The Fairest One of All
by Braycat
Summary: Trip Tucker is Dead!!!! Or is he? Yes, it really is complete!!! Oh happy day.
1. Default Chapter

"The Fairest One of All."  
by Braycat.  
  
Disclaimers: Paramount owns the rights to all of these characters. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. I promise to put them back when I'm done.  
  
Author's note: This story takes place three weeks after Unexpected.  
  
Many thanks to "TheGrrrl" who provided inspiration for this story.  
  
_________________  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
Travis Mayweather wandered down the corridor in a daze. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't really care. He'd just gotten so restless sitting on his butt in his quarters that finally it was all too much. He had to move.  
  
Not really paying attention to what he was doing, occasionally he would bump into someone coming the other way, but he knew that they'd take no offense. They were feeling just as restless as he was, and he saw the same pain reflected back from their eyes that he knew was clearly visible in his own. A pain that threatened to overwhelm all of them because they had lost the heart and soul of their ship. Commander Trip Tucker was dead.  
  
Mayweather stopped short when it finally registered in his mind where his random wanderings had taken him. As his eyes locked onto the transporter pad Travis felt a surge of hatred for this inanimate object, this machine. His fury was so intense that he wanted to get an ax and smash it to pieces. Mayweather wanted to kill the transporter. To pay it back for killing his friend.   
  
Three days before Tucker had been standing on the supposedly de-activated transport pad to perform some routine maintenance when suddenly the mechanism activated on it's own. Before Trip could react, the transporter engaged, beaming the commander...   
  
Well... that was exactly the problem. Apparently Tucker was beamed to nowhere. The coordinates had been set for empty space. Captain Archer had no choice but to conclude that his best friend, Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker the Third was dead.  
  
Mayweather clearly remembered guiding Enterprise through that region of space, hoping against hope to find the engineer's body at least, but Enterprise searched the location of the transport coordinates thoroughly and found nothing. Archer's voice cracked a little when he gave the order to abandon, and it was with a heavy heart that Mayweather returned Enterprise to it's former course of exploration.  
  
The next few days passed in a daze in Mayweather's mind. There'd been a memorial service of course. Travis didn't remember much of it. He'd been hurting too much. He did recall that Captain Archer managed to make it through most of the eulogy before breaking down.  
  
Ever since then, whenever you ran into the captain he either growled at you, or enveloped you in a big hug. That was one great thing about Captain Archer. He didn't even try to hide the way he was feeling. He let you in to share his grief and at the same time helped you deal with your own.  
  
Mayweather looked at the transporter pad again. A piece of yellow tape crossed in front of the dais. A quiet warning to remind everyone not to step onto the platform, as if they could ever forget. Archer banned access to the pad immediately after the accident and he had T'Pol head up the investigation.  
  
Since she didn't feel the same, devastating impact of Tucker's death as the rest of the crew, she could focus on the particulars of the mishap with her usual Vulcan detachment and efficiency. However, even though she wasn't as effected by the accident as the others, even Mayweather could see that she was shocked by the loss of the commander.  
  
T'Pol worked tirelessly, but her investigation turned up exactly nothing. The transporter seemed to be in perfect working order. No anomalies were found. That was when Archer ordered the machine to be totally off limits. No one was going to set foot on that platform again until they thoroughly understood the cause of the accident, and from the way things stood now, Mayweather knew the transporter was going to be off-line for a very long time.  
  
"Thinking of bashing the bloody thing to bits?" a British voice asked.  
  
Mayweather blinked. He was so deep into his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed that Reed was standing right next to him. "How'd you know?"  
  
Malcolm shot the transport mechanism a look of pure hate. "Because I've thought of nothing else for the last seventy two hours either."  
  
"Yeah, well maybe after the investigation's complete Captain Archer will let us each take a shot at ripping it apart."  
  
Reed smiled. A very wan smile. "That would be very therapeutic, wouldn't it?" Then the smile faded away and the armory officer looked Mayweather up and down with a critical eye. "When was the last time that you've eaten?"  
  
The helmsman couldn't help but feel a flash of guilt, like a little kid who'd been caught doing something wrong. "I don't remember, exactly."  
  
Reed had thought so. "Well, why don't you run along and get a bite now?"  
  
"I really couldn't eat, Lieutenant." Mayweather protested, trying to get out of it. "I just don't have any appetite. I'd only wind up toying with my food, then throwing it away."  
  
"I know." Reed had to force down his own breakfast that morning, thinking that he had to set a good example for the juniors. "Never the less, the captain's orders are quite clear. We're not to let ourselves become run down. So come on." The armory officer clapped Travis on the shoulder. "Let's go have us some lunch, eh?"  
  
"Yes sir." Mayweather knew a lost cause when he saw it and allowed Reed to drag him toward the mess hall. They'd only taken a few steps when a loud click reverberated down the corridor. Both men froze, then turned back to face their killer machine.  
  
"The transporter." Reed gasped.  
  
"It's powering up on it's own." Mayweather shook off his shock and ran forward, intending to shut the device down .  
  
"No!" Reed ordered. Reacting instantly, the armory officer pulled Mayweather's hand away from the controls. "Don't touch it!"  
  
The alarm in the lieutenant's voice caused Mayweather to jump a little. He hadn't really realized the danger he could have just been in. "Yes, sir."  
  
"Get away from the transporter." Reed ordered. When they had retreated to a safe distance, Malcolm tapped the Comm panel and hailed the captain.  
  
Archer's tired voice came back over the speaker. "Go ahead."  
  
"Sir." Reed said, his eyes glued to the pad. "The transporter's powering up again, all by itself."  
  
The captain's voice suddenly sharpened as his reply came back. "Keep everyone away from the dais. I'll be right there."  
  
"Aye, sir." Reed thumbed off the speaker. He and Mayweather just watched in amazement as the transporter completed it's power-up cycle. Then a familiar hum began to fill the hall.  
  
"The transporter." Travis whispered. "It's engaging."  
  
The shimmering veil of the matter stream fell across the platform. Then the mechanical hum intensified and "something" began to be seen behind the transport curtain. After several moments the "something" solidified into the shape of a man. Then the hum died away, leaving the man standing in it's wake.  
  
A slightly bewildered man, wearing civilian clothes, stood gasping at the room around him. He looked around in amazement. He'd never seen this place, in quite this way before. Finally one word popped out. "Wow!"  
  
Mayweather and Reed were just as stunned. Frozen in shock they just stood still and starred. Starred at the man who they had recently given up for dead, but was now miraculously alive. For standing before them was one Charles "Trip" Tucker.  
  
Reed jolted himself out of his shock and started to move. "Commander Tucker!"  
  
Charlie tuned at the sound of his name. When he saw the two men rushing toward him, he reacted instinctively and shank back away from them. "Stay away from me!" Tucker called out in desperation.  
  
"Trip?" Reed asked. "Are you all right?"  
  
Charlie's eyes filled with terror as Reed moved closer. "Stay back." The engineer pleaded, cradling his arm protectively across a bulge that protruded from under his shirt on his left side. He kept edging away until his back was against the transporter's wall. "Please don't hurt me?"   
  
Instantly responding to the fear in Tucker's voice Reed stopped in his tracks. Why was Trip afraid of them? "I won't hurt you," the armory officer promised. Reed wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but the last thing that he wanted to do was frighten his friend. "Trip it's me, Malcolm. Don't you recognized me?"  
  
"Malcolm?" Charlie looked puzzled, as if the sight of the lieutenant didn't entirely match up with the picture of the man that was all ready in his mind. "Not Malcolm Reed?"   
  
To Mayweather, Trip's comment appeared to be a statement, but Malcolm took it to be a question and nodded in reply. "That's right."  
  
"Malcolm Reed." Charlie whispered, not quite believing what he was seeing. Then he turned his attention to Mayweather. "And you're...?" Charlie peered closely and recognition lighted up his eyes. "Travis Mayweather?"  
  
"That's me all right." Travis felt a little more at ease. Trip seemed so confused at first. Not recognizing Malcolm? At least Tucker seemed to know who he was.   
  
"Wow." Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "You guys look so different."  
  
Now that was an odd remark. As far as they both knew they looked like they always did. "How so, sir?" Mayweather asked.  
  
"You're both so..." Charlie struggled to find the right word, then finally came up with it. "...clean."  
  
Clean? What the hell did that mean?  
  
They didn't get a chance to find out because at that moment Jonathan Archer ran into the hall. When he saw Trip standing on the pad, alive, his face lit up with joy. "Trip!" he cried out and moved forward to embrace his friend, but the look on Tucker's face stopped him cold. "Trip, are you all right."  
  
Charlie instinctively cringed back against the bulkhead when he first saw Archer, but after a few moments passed and no attack occurred, Tucker forced himself to relax. Then the engineer stared intently at the captain. The man standing before him was so different from what he had expected. "Cap'n Archer?"  
  
"Yes, Trip." Archer cautiously moved forward, aware that something was terribly wrong.  
  
Charlie couldn't believe it when he saw friendly concern on Archer's face. "You're... you're actually happy to see me, aren't you?"   
  
"Of course I'm happy to see you, Trip." The captain said carefully. Had something happened to Tucker's memory? Not taking his eyes off of his friend, Archer whispered an order to Mayweather to go fetch the doctor.  
  
"Yes, sir." Mayweather slowly backed away and when he was out of Trip's sight he ran for the intercom.   
  
Then the captain moved forward slightly. He didn't exactly know what was wrong, but it was obvious that something was, and he didn't want to alarm the engineer any further. "You know that you're my best friend, don't you?"  
  
"Best friend." Trip repeated the phrase to himself over and over, like he'd never heard of such a thing before, but apparently the engineer began to believe it because he relaxed his defensive position a little and pushed away from the wall. He still cradled the bulge under his shirt carefully, as if to make sure that no harm came to it. "You really are my friend, aren't you?"   
  
"Yes I am." Still confused, Archer forced himself to make his voice sound as positive as he could.  
  
Charlie reacted to Archer's friendly attitude and allowed himself to feel a little more at ease. He even let a small smile slip onto his face. Then Phlox arrived and when Tucker caught sight of the doctor he reacted with surprise. "You're certainly a different lookin' species." He said. "I've never seen your kind before."  
  
That stopped the doctor short. "You've never seen me before?"  
  
"'Fraid not. What race are you?"  
  
"I'm a Denobulan."  
  
"Ah." The smile fell from Charlie's face and looked away from the doctor, as if he was embarrassed about something. "I'm sorry."  
  
Sorry? Phlox was puzzled. "Why?"  
  
Before Tucker could answer, T'Pol joined the little group and the engineer's eyes widened when he saw her. "A Vulcan. On this ship?"  
  
"Yes." Archer confirmed. Although relieved that his friend was alive, now Archer was convinced that Trip had suffered some sort of brain damage. "She's my science officer. Her name is..."  
  
"Wait." Charlie cut him off. "He told me about her. I remember now." Tucker looked straight into the Vulcan's eyes. "Your name is T'Pol, isn't it?"  
  
"That's right." It didn't take T'Pol long to focus in on the most important part of Trip's last statement. "Who told you about me?"  
  
Surprised at her demeanor, Charlie wasn't concentrating on what she said, but more on how she said it. "You're kinda calm for a Vulcan, aren't you?"  
  
Calm? That rocked the captain. Since when was T'Pol anything but calm? There was something going on here. Something that Archer was missing and the captain knew that he had to find out what it was. "Why don't you answer her question, Trip?"  
  
Still shocked at the sight of a poised and composed Vulcan, Charlie had to work to draw his attention back to the matter at hand. "What question was that, sir?"  
  
"Who told you about T'Pol?"  
  
"Ah." Charlie was now caught up, but he still hesitated before answering. Ever since he re-materialized Tucker knew that he would have tell Archer the truth, but it was gonna be hard. "I'm 'fraid that I'm not exactly who you think I am, Cap'n."  
  
"Oh?" Archer didn't know what Trip was talking about, but he did know his best friend when he saw him. "Are you trying to tell me that you're not Trip Tucker?"  
  
"No... I'm Trip Tucker all right." Now they were down to it. Charlie took a deep breath, then let everything out in a rush. "I'm just not your Trip Tucker."  
  
Archer was taken totally aback. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
  
Charlie hadn't been sure how he was gonna explain things to Archer when it came to this moment, so he just plunged in and did the best he could. "I guess you could say I come from another dimension."  
  
To be continued..... 


	2. Chapter Two

"The Fairest One of All" CHAPTER TWO  
  
  
  
  
  
"Are you trying to tell me that you come from some sort of parallel universe? From a ship identical to ours?"  
  
"Not exactly identical, no." It didn't surprise Charlie Tucker any that Archer wasn't immediately buying into his story about two Enterprise's, complete with two sets of crews. "I know it sounds crazy, Cap'n." The engineer said while keeping a close watch on the alien doctor who was approaching with some sort of scanner in his hand. "But you're not gonna find anythin' wrong with my noggin."   
  
"Well, you have to admit, Trip. Brain damage is a little more plausible than you beaming back from some sort of different dimension."  
  
"I know it is." It took all the will power that Charlie could muster not to flinch away when the alien got too close to him. These are nice people, he told himself over and over again. They weren't gonna hurt him.  
  
"There doesn't seem to be any damage to his brain." Phlox reported before continuing his exam.  
  
Managing to keep still, Charlie kept a wary eye on the doctor's scanner as it started to move lower. "I think you'll find that your Trip Tucker and I are physically identical, except..." Charlie glanced at the bulge on the left side of his abdomen. A bulge that the doctor's scanner was rapidly approaching. "Except in one big way."  
  
Phlox, concentrating on his readings, only half heard what Tucker said. "Your DNA corresponds with Commander Tucker's previous readings." Phlox muttered, then moved the medical device lower. Charlie caught in his breath as Phlox finally scanned the lump. The doctor's eyes grew very wide and a startled "Good Lord" popped out of his mouth.  
  
"What is it?" Archer wasn't sure if this was his Trip or not, but the memories of his grief were still clean and sharp in his mind and he didn't think he could bear it if Tucker was really hurt. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong, Captain." Phlox replied. "It's just that..." The doctor hesitated for a moment, glancing up at Tucker and asking a question with his eyes. Charlie nodded his permission and Phlox made his report. "Commander Tucker is pregnant."  
  
THAT send a bomb of shock throughout the room!  
  
"What?"   
  
"I can't believe it!"  
  
"Not again."   
  
"No. Not again." Charlie corrected. "Still."  
  
"Still?"  
  
Phlox nodded, continuing his scans. "Commander Tucker is correct, Captain. I'm reading the presence of a Xyrillian fetus, approximately four weeks old. The infant appears to be half way along in it's development cycle."  
  
This was the moment that Charlie was dreading. He knew he hadn't been able to take as good care of his girl as he wanted to, and he was terrified to ask this next question, but he had to know. "Is she all right?"  
  
Everyone in the room heard the tremble of fear in Tucker's voice. The sound of a parent frantically worried about his child. "I'll have to do more detailed scans in sickbay, of course." Phlox said, "but she appears to be healthy."  
  
Charlie's eyes closed as he let the relief wash over him. That was what he desperately wanted to hear. That was why he came.  
  
Malcolm relaxed a bit when he saw Charlie's reaction. The second he heard that Tucker was pregnant, every fiber of the armory officer's being went on full alert. This couldn't be their Trip Tucker. He was an intruder in their midst. Reed began to long for a phase pistol, but then he heard the fear in Tucker's voice, fear and concern for his child. That's when Reed knew one thing. This man was not a threat.  
  
Archer was never concerned for the safety of Enterprise. They outnumbered Charlie four to one. No, the captain was more interested in establishing the bona-fides of Tucker's story, so he sent T'Pol to the bridge to check out the sensor logs to see if anything unusual showed up. Anything besides a pregnant Trip Tucker that was.   
  
"Okay." He told the engineer. "Say you really do come from a parallel universe, a story I have not swallowed whole just yet, despite the presence of that." He pointed to the bulge. "But if you're really telling me the truth, then there is one thing I want... no, I need to know. "What..." Archer's voice broke a little and he had to clear it and try again. "What happened to our Trip Tucker?"  
  
Charlie seemed to sag a little. How to explain? "That's kinda complicated, Cap'n"  
  
"At least tell me if he's alive." Archer didn't even try to hide his desperate tone.  
  
"Yes." Tucker was firm. He wanted no misunderstandings here. "Your Trip Tucker is alive."  
  
The relief in the hall was palatable. For the moment the mere fact that Trip was alive filled Archer's mind, leaving no room for anything else. Then, after a few minutes, the practical aspects of the captain's personality began to take hold and Archer returned to the matter at hand. "Well, if Trip's alive then where the hell has he been for the last three days?"  
  
"Mostly he's been listenin' to me brief him about the warp three reactor on my ship."  
  
It was obvious to Archer that the engineer totally believed this cockamamie theory of his, but the captain had a hard time grasping the fundamentals here. A parallel universe? The whole idea was ridiculous, and yet Archer had to admit that a temporal cold war was crazy too, and he knew that particular wild tale was true. Then again, traveling through time was one thing, but traveling through different universes? "How did Trip manage to get his ass over there, or you over here?"  
  
"I'll be happy to tall ya, Cap'n, but it's gonna take a little while to get all the explainin' in."  
  
"Take your time."   
  
Charlie was debating about where to start when suddenly he turned pale and swayed. The engineer would have fallen if Phlox hadn't reached in and grabbed him. "Sorry." Tucker gasped. "My little girl uses up a lot of my energy. Sometimes I run short before I know it."  
  
"We should get you to sickbay." Phlox said. "I want to examine you more thoroughly anyway."  
  
Charlie was barely standing now. "I don't care what you do. I just need ta lay down for awhile."  
  
"We'll get you to a bed right away." Phlox shot a look at Archer. When the captain nodded his permission, Phlox began to guide Tucker to sickbay.  
  
The captain's mind was full of questions as he watched them go, but he knew they would have to wait. This man may or may not be the friend that Archer knew, but he was alive, and Archer was determined to keep him that way.  
  
**********  
  
Charlie seemed familiar with the ship, but would have passed right by sickbay if Phlox hadn't called him back. The engineer whistled when he first saw the medical facility. "This is your sickbay?" When Phlox nodded he continued. "On my ship this is just a storage locker.  
  
Phlox gestured for Charlie to lay down on the biobed and started his exam. "I gather that my counterpart is not the doctor on your version of Enterprise."  
  
Charlie hesitated for a moment, as if he didn't quite know what to say. Then he settled for a simple no. "We do have a medic though. He's pretty good at patchin' up broken bones and stuff like that."  
  
"I see." Phlox replied a bit absentmindedly. Most of his attention was focused on his scans and he didn't like what he was seeing. Not at all.  
  
Charlie didn't pick up on the doctors mood. He was thinking about his friend Danny, their medic, and how overwhelmed they both were when they learned that he was pregnant. "Babies were kinda out of his league, though.  
  
"You mean you've had no pre-natal care at all?" Horrified, the doctor immediately centered the focus of his scans on the fetus.  
  
"Well, Danny did help a couple of women birth their babies, but this never happened to a human male before. At least not in my universe."  
  
"Not in this one either. Our Commander Tucker was the first as well."   
  
"Danny tried his best, but..." Charlie waved his arm around the room. "He didn't have any stuff like this to work with." A look of panic began to fill the engineer's eyes. "She is gonna be all right, isn't she?"  
  
Phlox could clearly see that Charlie was frightened and hastened to reassure the distraught man. "Everything is going to be fine, Commander. I promise."  
  
Charlie latched onto the doctor's reassuring tone and forced himself to believe what Phlox was saying was really true. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe his little girl was really gonna be okay.  
  
**********  
  
Time passed then Archer arrived in sickbay to check up on his guest. T'Pol had just given him her report on her check of the ships internal sensors, and he wanted to ask Charlie about them. The Vulcan did pick up something unusual in one of the low range theta bands at the exact moment that Charlie materialized on the transport dais. Upon further analysis T'Pol discovered that there had been similar spikes in the band over the last few days, including the day that Trip disappeared. Archer wanted to know what was going on and Charlie was the only one who had the answers, but apparently Archer's questions would have to wait. The engineer was asleep.   
  
"He had been bordering on exhaustion." Phlox reported to the captain. "But these last few hours of rest should help revitalize his energy levels."  
  
"Good." Archer glanced at the sleeping man who looked so much like his friend. "Any word on confirming his story."  
  
"Despite the presence of a maturing Xyrillian fetus you mean?"  
  
Archer winced a little and nodded. He knew that the re-appearance of the baby was pretty solid proof that Trip's... Charlie's story was true, but Archer wanted to know if there was anything else that could back up his wild claim.  
  
Phlox settled this question once and for all. "This man is not our Charles Tucker."  
  
"You're sure?" Archer was surprised. He hadn't expected the doctor to sound so positive.  
  
"I'm sure." Phlox led Archer to the computer terminal and started displaying the results of his scans. "This Commander Tucker is not the same robust, healthy individual that I examined last week." Phlox gestured to the display. "I want you to take a look at this, Captain."   
  
The screen showed a tri-dimensional image of Tucker's skeletal system. As the captain looked closely at it he saw several dark lines criss-crossing the bones. "What are those?"  
  
Phlox wasn't surprised that Archer recognized the anomaly immediately. "Those are scars of healed breaks, Captain."  
  
"You're kidding?" Archer had a hard time believing that all these scars could belong to one person. The skeleton was covered with such marks. It didn't seem that there was a bone in Tucker's body that didn't show a break on it. What could have caused such damage? "Was he in some sort of accident?"  
  
Phlox shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Captain. Some of these scars are much older than the others, while some are quite recent, and this one..." he pointed to a sharp mark displayed on Tucker's upper right arm. "...is quite fresh. I'd say his arm was broken only three to four weeks ago, then the break was healed by a matter re-sequencer."  
  
"So..." The import was beginning to sink into the captain. "No one incident caused all of these injuries?"  
  
"I'm afraid not."  
  
"You're saying that he's been abused?"  
  
The look on Phlox's face confirmed Archer's guess. "For most of his life it appears."  
  
"Damn it." Archer breathed, trying to take it all in. What kind of hell did this man come from anyway? Then the captain remembered the look on Charlie's face when the engineer first saw him. Tucker had been afraid of him. Of him! Mayweather and Reed told Archer that Charlie had seemed to be afraid of them as well. Grim, Archer looked at the display again. He bet he could guess who was responsible for most of these injuries.  
  
Phlox broke into his thoughts. "I'm afraid there's more, Captain."  
  
"More?" How the hell could there be anything worse than this?  
  
Phlox sighed. There were times when he tired of being the constant bearer of bad news. "In addition to the history of physical injuries, this man has been suffering from malnutrition for quite some time."  
  
"You mean he hasn't been getting enough to eat?"  
  
"Exactly. His caloric intake has been, oh I'd say on average a third less than our daily requirements. This is one reason why his body hasn't developed to the same physical level as our own Commander Tucker. And he was quite right to be concerned about the effects of his malnutrition on the development of his unborn child."  
  
Oh God, Archer thought as a burst of panic flashed right through him. While still not clear as to what was going on, he couldn't help but be concerned when the life of a child was at stake. "Is she going to be all right?"  
  
"I think so, yes." The doctor's unexpected good prognosis allowed Archer to breathe a little bit easier. Phlox went on. "While it was true that the reduced nutrition that the commander was receiving did inhibit the child's development somewhat, I do believe that I can enhance the baby's condition with growth stimulating hormones. That combined with upping the commander's caloric intake to proper levels should allow the fetus to develop normally from this point on."  
  
If Charlie stayed here. Archer hated to ask this question, but he did anyway. "What would happen if he went back to where he came from?"  
  
Phlox's expression went grave, in the way that only a doctor can when the information he has to share is not good. "If Commander Tucker were to be returned to that environment then I am quite sure that he would suffer a miscarriage. If that were to happen, given the primitive nature of the medical care that I understand to be on that ship, I am not certain that the commander would survive such an event.  
  
Damn it. That was what Archer had been afraid of.  
  
"Even if by some miracle the baby should survive to term," Phlox went on. "I am quite certain that both the child and the commander would die during the childbirth."  
  
The captain didn't take this news well. He couldn't recall a time when his feelings were so divided. Archer looked down again at the commander, sleeping peacefully, perhaps for the first time in his life. Yet Archer pictured his Trip, his friend, living on the other side right now. The image of Charlie's skeleton covered with breaks haunted Archer. Maybe Trip was trapped on the very same ship, with the very same people that caused all off that damage. Archer had to get him back, yet he couldn't let this Tucker return to that hell, with a baby no less. Archer's quandary magnified ten fold. What the hell was he going to do?  
  
To be continued...... 


	3. Chapter Three

"The Fairest One of All." CHAPTER THREE  
  
  
  
  
  
Mired in mixed emotions Archer decided that he needed more information before he could make any kind of decision, and there was only one person who could give him the answers that he needed. "Can you bring him around?"  
  
"Of course." Phlox moved toward Charlie's bedside. "He'll probably be ravenous when he wakens."  
  
"That's okay." Archer said. "We can talk while he eats."  
  
**********  
  
True to the doctor's prediction, Charlie woke up hungry. So with Phlox's permission, Archer sprang the engineer from sickbay and guided him toward the mess hall. As they walked Charlie kept looking around. Archer couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but the engineer was certainly jumpy. "Is something wrong?"   
  
"Well..." Tucker hesitated for a moment. He wasn't used to being able to ask his Archer anything, but this wasn't his Archer, he reminded himself. "Where's your personal guard?"  
  
"My what?" What the hell was a personal guard? It sounded kind of pompous to Archer.   
  
"You know, your body guard."  
  
"Ah..." That explained much. Archer realized that his counterpart must be all ego. Then the captain thought about all those scars on Charlie's bones and wondered if sadist might be a better term. "Well, I'm beginning to see why a lot of people might want to attack your Captain Archer, but I need no such protection. Nobody's going to jump me. At least not on the way to the mess hall." Charlie didn't say anything as he took this in, but he stopped his nervous survey of the corridor.   
  
"Here we are." Archer gestured to the mess hall doors. Since they arrived in between lunch and dinner the room was sparsely filled, with only a few late eaters.   
  
The captain started to guide the engineer to his private dining room when Charlie stopped still. Rooted, the engineer was terrified to take another step. "That's... that's the Captain's Mess, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes it is. I thought we might eat in private and talk..." Archer trailed off as he saw Charlie, now white as a sheet, start to back away. "But we don't have to." Archer amended hastily. We can eat out here if you like."  
  
The engineer made himself take a minute to remember when he was before he shook away whatever nightmarish images that he had associated with that room. Relieved to see the color return to his friend's face, Archer led Charlie to a table by the window. Then got him a tray full of leftover spaghetti, salad and dessert and took it over to the engineer. The captain set the tray before him, but Charlie did nothing. He just sat still and stared at the food.  
  
"Is something wrong?" Archer finally asked.  
  
"Sir?" Apparently the engineer didn't understand the question.  
  
"With the food?" Archer pointed to the tray. "If you don't like spaghetti I can get you something else."  
  
Imagine, Charlie thought, someone asking "him" what he wanted to eat. "No, it looks great." The engineer sniffed. "Smells great too. I'm so hungry, I can't wait to try it."  
  
"Then why don't you eat?"  
  
"Well, I'm waiting for you to take your share, sir."  
  
"My share?" This answer didn't enlighten Archer any, until realization dawned. "You've never seen this much food in one sitting, have you?"  
  
"No, sir." Charlie admitted. "The captain always takes a share of everything we have, including what we eat. It's his way."  
  
"I bet it is." Archer's anger sparked as he began to silently curse his counterpart. Taking a share was a way for a dictator to keep control of his people. "Look Charlie. I'm getting the idea that life is pretty rough where you come from, but here on this Enterprise things are different. We have plenty of food, enough for everybody and I don't take a share. All of this..." he gestured to the tray. "...is for you."  
  
"Me?" At first the engineer couldn't comprehend such riches. "Really?"  
  
"Really." Archer confirmed. "Now, go ahead and eat."  
  
"Yes sir." Now that it was permitted, Charlie grabbed his fork and started shoveling in food like there was no tomorrow.  
  
"Woah, slow down." The captain ordered. "You'll just make yourself sick if you keep eating that fast. Take your time. The food's not going anywhere."  
  
"Aye, Cap'n." The engineer eased his pace, but only a bit. While he didn't doubt Archer's word, a part of him still didn't believe all this bounty was just for him and he wanted to make sure that he had eaten all he could, just in case.  
  
As Charlie ate, Archer noticed the fully formed nipples on his left wrist. Another sign of confirmation that this man was not his Trip Tucker. Trip's nipples disappeared about a week after the Xyrillian's extracted the fetus from his body. There we no physical traces of his pregnancy remaining on the Trip he knew, but there sure as hell was on this one, Archer thought as he glanced at Charlie's bulge. This brought the captain back to the main order of business. "Charlie, if you don't mind I'd like to ask you a couple of questions."  
  
"You want to know how I got here and where your Trip Tucker is, am I right?"  
  
"Right on the nose." Archer was a bit surprised. He knew his Trip had a brilliant mind hidden underneath his country drawl. It looked like this one did to.  
  
Charlie sighed. The story was so hard to explain, but he had to try to organize his jumbled thoughts at least enough to sound a little coherent in front of this captain. "I guess that it started when I was testin' a new spy camera for Cap'n Archer."  
  
"Spy camera?" Archer wondered what his counterpart would need with that.   
  
"My cap'n wanted to scout out the opposition's strength without them bein' aware that we were around, so I came up with a little remote camera probe about the size of this." Charlie held up his glass. "Worked like a dream too. Flyin' through the planet's atmosphere it was able to pick up crystal clear images, full of detail, from over four hundred miles away. Then I ran into problems when I tried to beam the probe back aboard. There was a storm ragin' in the ionosphere and it interfered with my transport."  
  
"Let me guess. The probe never materialized."  
  
"Oh it materialized all right, but not on the transport pad. The camera was showin' a picture of one of Enterprise's corridors." Charlie told him in-between bites. "The probe was still sendin' back telemetry, but the coordinates made no sense. All the readings were backward. The motor still worked though, and I flew the probe up and down the corridors hopin' to figure out where it was on the ship exactly. Finally I recognized the armory so I went to go and pick it up,"  
  
Archer didn't need Charlie to finish this part of his story. The captain could see the ending as if the page were printed out right before him. "You couldn't find the probe because it wasn't on your ship. It was on mine!"  
  
"Exactly." Charlie was pleased that Archer came up with the correct answer right away. Tucker wasn't so sure if his cap'n was bright enough to grasp such concepts. Well, maybe he was smart enough, Charlie admitted, but his Archer just couldn't be bothered to pursue such scholarly pursuits, not when there was plundering and killing to be done. "I wasn't sure what the hell was goin' on at first. I mean, our ships are similar in design and construction, but there are differences."  
  
"I bet there are." A picture of everyday life on that ship went through Archer's mind. A pretty grim picture too, the captain gathered, based on the information that he had so far, anyway.  
  
"The first thing I noticed was everythin' was so clean. We're a little more messy on my ship. It smells a bit better here too." Charlie punctuated this statement by deeply inhaling the appetizing scent of the apple pie before he began to eat. "Then I saw your Charlie Tucker...Trip...walkin' down the corridor and I was just blown away. I mean, that was me. I was watchin' myself."  
  
This whole double universe thing had been shocking enough to Archer and he'd only heard about it. The effect of actually seeing yourself like that must have been staggering.  
  
"I was so stunned that my mind shut down for what seemed forever." Charlie admitted. "It was only after Trip walked out of my sight that I began to realize what it was that I was lookin' at."  
  
"A parallel universe?"   
  
"The telemetry confirmed it. Now that I knew what was goin' on I could start to make sense of all those wacko readings." Charlie had spent days trying to unscramble the intriguing puzzle. "I knew the transport must have sent the probe here, but I had to figure out how. So I hid the camera in one of your Jefferies Tubes while I went over the transport logs. I had to find out what was goin' on."  
  
"What did your captain think about that?" Archer regretted the question immediately after he asked it because it caused the engineer to become embarrassed and duck away. "You didn't tell him, did you?"  
  
"Oh I told him." Charlie conceded, the color beginning to flee from his face again, this time ever so slowly. "I told him the camera was lost in the transport."  
  
"I'm guessing that he didn't take the news well?"  
  
"That's an understatement." The speed increased, and Charlie's pink facial pigment rapidly drained away as he vividly recalled his captain's violent reaction to the news.  
  
For one horrifying moment Archer was sure that the engineer was going to pass out. The captain's counterpart must have exacted some horrendous punishment for the mere memory of it to effect Charlie this much. Archer gently shook Tucker's arm. "It's all right, Charlie. You're safe now. It's all right."   
  
Charlie felt the warmth and concern coming from Archer and relished the fact that somebody else actually seemed to care about him. Then the warm feelings died away when Tucker thought about what was to come. "You've been really nice to me since I've been here, Cap'n and I really appreciate it, so I hope you don't end up bein' too angry with me when you hear what I've got to tell ya next."  
  
As Charlie said this the captain could clearly see the fear prominent in the engineer's eyes, but this time it was different. It took awhile, but then Archer belatedly realized that Tucker was now afraid of him, not his counterpart. "Whatever it is, Charlie, I promise you I won't hurt you. No one on this ship will."  
  
The engineer, though still pale, took a deep breath and summoned up all of his courage. "I sorta spied on you, Cap'n. Not in anyone's private quarters..." Charlie hastened to add. "...but I watched you all for several days."  
  
A flash of anger blasted through Archer at the thought of them being watched, but he was careful to control his face. He didn't want to scare Charlie anymore then he was all ready. "Why?"   
  
Realizing he survived the initial confession, the engineer hastened to explain. "I had to find out who you were. This place..." He gestured to the room around them. "It's so different. Not in just the way it looks, but in the ways that count. In the way you all are. I had to find out if it was as good as it looked. I was desperate."  
  
"Why Charlie? Why were you so desperate?"  
  
Tucker struggled to put his feelings into words. He knew everything came down to this moment. He was going to fail or succeed right here and right now. "When my Cap'n Archer found out I was pregnant he went ballistic. The only women on our ship are either concubines or slaves and all of them are taken care of to make sure that they can't get knocked up, so when it happened to me..." Charlie's voice trailed off as he glanced at the door to the Captain's Mess. "He went kinda crazy."   
  
"I bet." Archer remembered Charlie's skeletal scan. Phlox had told him that the most recent break, the one on Tucker's arm, had occurred two to three weeks ago. That would be right around the time that Charlie became pregnant. Archer followed the engineer's gaze to the Captain's Mess and had no trouble visualizing the horrors that went on in that room.  
  
Charlie began to breathe in large and uneven gasps. The memories were so vivid that even flashing on them for a moment was enough to spark a small panic attack, but Tucker fought through it. Desperate to make this Archer understand. "At first he wanted me to... to... have an abortion...but I wouldn't do it! I'd never stood up to the cap'n before, but I did then." For a minute Charlie lost control and let the panic overtake him. "I couldn't let him just... murder my little girl!" Then Tucker got a hold of himself and after a few minutes he calmed down enough to continue. "I thought the cap'n was gonna kill me right then and there, but then Malcolm had a suggestion. He thought it would be amusin' to let me continue to carry my baby. It would make the games more entertainin'."  
  
"Games?" Archer was afraid to imagine what kind of "games" that his barbarian counterpart would find amusing.   
  
"The cap'n holds a banquet in one of the cargo bays every so often. Usually the after dinner entertainment is a couple of fights amon' the crew. Cap'n Archer stages bouts between crewmembers who have made him angry or broken one of the rules. It's his way of keepin' order and bein' entertained at the same time."  
  
"Charming." Imagine, in the 22nd century the Roman Coliseum was alive and thriving. Archer hated the idea of such brutality happening on his ship, even if it was one in another universe. Humanity never seemed to learn. "Does everyone on your ship enjoy these games?"  
  
Charlie shook his head. "Only Archer and his crowd. Most of the crew is made up of good people, Cap'n. We just spend most of our time tryin' to duck under the radar and keep on livin', but it's hard to stay unnoticed when you have a baby pokin' out from under your shirt."  
  
Tucker let the implication hang in the air, but Archer instantly picked up on what must have really happened over there, and the thought of it made him sick. "Your captain didn't make you participate in a fight, did he?" When Tucker's eyes closed and he turned away Archer had his answer. "Oh, Charlie. I'm so sorry."  
  
"Archer came into the ring himself to fight me. He told me it was one hell of a honor."  
  
"Some honor." The captain never considered himself to be a masochist, but he would have dearly loved to take a punch at his other self right then. "The coward picked on you because he knew he had the advantage."  
  
"That's right." Tucker allowed himself a glimmer of hope. Archer was getting the picture. Maybe his mission was gonna work out after all. "My cap'n knew that I would have to spend most of my resources to protect my baby." Charlie's hand tightened around the bulge on his abdomen protectively.  
  
Archer could easily picture the scene. "So with you protecting your child, your captain was free to beat the crap out of the rest of you."  
  
Charlie's paleness was replaced with a flush of anger. "I knew he wasn't gonna kill me, that would end the torment too soon, but Cap'n Archer had great pleasure in draggin' things out as long as he could The cap'n would throw a punch at my stomach, knowing full well that I'd turn away, waddle away they called it. Then he and his friends would start laughin' at my expense. Everyone had a great time calling me names as I struggled to keep my baby away from the cap'n."  
  
Archer felt the bile rise in his throat. The thought of anyone getting pleasure out of tormenting a parent, who's only concern was to protect his unborn child was sickening.   
  
"But then the worst thing happened." Charlie continued. "The cap'n was able to get past my guard and he landed a punch right on the pod."  
  
"Oh, God."  
  
"I was terrified that he might have hurt my little girl. There wasn't anythin' more that I could do to protect her and Archer knew it, but fortunately he decided to stop then. They'd had enough entertainment for one night and the captain knew that I'd only get fatter and slower as my pregnancy progressed. That would make the fights far more entertainin' in the months to come."  
  
"And more dangerous." Archer focused in on the most important aspect of the matter. If Charlie couldn't move very fast he would have more and more trouble protecting his child from that Archer's attacks. On purpose or not, the damage to the baby could be extreme.  
  
"That's it exactly." Charlie's eyes started to fill with tears. "You see now why I had to cross over. There is no way my little girl could survive several more of these attacks and even if she did..." The engineer's voice faltered for a moment because this next part was so hard to tell. He barely had the courage to think about it, but he told himself to get it together. "Malcolm suggested to Archer the ultimate 'entertainment'. The cap'n was plannin' for me to give birth right there in the circle, in front of everybody."  
  
Archer was aghast. "Without any medical help?"  
  
"Just me and the baby." Charlie had many nightmares picturing the disaster that he knew was to come. "It would be quite a spectacle."  
  
It would be more than that. Archer remembered all of the warnings and dangers that Phlox had given them when their Trip had been pregnant. This baby was attached to his heart for Christ sake. No human male had gone through this before. Who knew what kind of complications might arise if Charlie were to give birth under controlled medical conditions, but out there in the arena, all alone..."  
  
Charlie could see that Archer had come to the correct conclusion. "There's no way that my baby could survive."  
  
"Or you." Archer pointed out.  
  
"I don't care about me!" The engineer was all but shouting now. "I care about my little girl. That's why I was forced to kidnap your Trip Tucker. I wouldn't have done it otherwise, but I was desperate. That's why your Trip agreed to take my place for three weeks until I come to term. He was willin' to help me save my baby. So, Cap'n...it all comes down to you. I'm beggin' you, please let me stay and give birth to my baby here. If I go back over there she is going to die, but here..." Charlie leaned forward and grasped Archer's hand. "Please, Cap'n. You're the only chance she's got!"  
  
Archer looked at the desperate man sitting across from him. A man desperate enough to reach out and touch Archer even though the captain knew that Charlie was still, on some level, afraid of him. After all he had the face of a barbarian.  
  
Archer brought a friendly smile to his face and tightened his fingers around Charlie's hand in a reassuring gesture. "Of course you can stay, Charlie. "We'll do everything in our power to make sure that your child is going to be born safely and healthy."  
  
"Oh thank you, Cap'n. Thank you." Weeks of fear and frustration welled over and Charlie broke down. Understanding, the captain held Charlie in his arms and let the frightened man calm cry. Archer felt a little better than he had an hour ago. At least one problem was resolved for the moment, but still... what to do about Trip?  
  
To be continued...... 


	4. Chapter Four

"The Fairest One of All." CHAPTER FOUR  
  
  
  
Trip Tucker was having a lousy day. No, it was more than that. It'd been a lousy week, and the prospects for the future didn't look any brighter. Not as long as he stayed on this ship. The last five days had been nothing short of a living nightmare. A nightmare that began the moment he re-materialized on the transport pad and saw... himself.  
  
At first he thought he must be suffering from some sort of delusion, but it didn't take him long to be convinced that the wild story that his counterpart was telling him was true. One glimpse of the Jonathan Archer in this universe took care of that. The man in charge of this ship was not his friend.  
  
Trip knew he didn't really have any choice but to help Charlie save his baby by taking his place. Trip would never have imagined it when he was pregnant, but when the Xyrillian's removed his fetus from his body, a feeling of emptiness was left in the child's wake. A feeling much stronger than he expected. Once or twice he'd even caught himself regretting that he gave his daughter up so easily, and with that regret came more than a little guilt.  
  
But now he had a chance to make up for that. It may be too late to change the decisions he made regarding his own little girl, but he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that her counterpart had a chance to survive.  
  
Which was why he was sitting here in what would be a cargo bay on his own ship, but over here it had been turned into some sort of macabre banquet hall. There were four long tables that formed a square around the edge of the room. This was where the members of the crew "lucky" enough to be invited to one of these special dinners ate. One of the tables, reserved for the captain and his friends, was raised higher than the rest. Archer wanted to make sure he could look down at the rest of the crew during the dinner.  
  
In the center of the room a circle, which outlined a space called the arena, was drawn. Charlie had given Trip a quick rundown on the after dinner entertainment that occurred inside that ring and it made the engineer cringe. Trip certainty wasn't looking forward to seeing the type of spectacles that Charlie described and hoped that there would be no "entertainment" that night.  
  
The door to the bay cracked open. All of the guests climbed to their feet and started to applaud as Archer and his buddies entered the room. Trip noted that most of the regular crew were clapping with less than full enthusiasm, but the engineer could see how politically correct it was to play along. If you didn't you could end up dead.  
  
Tucker studied the leaders of this Enterprise. Archer, Malcolm, Travis and their bodyguards were wearing hooded robes, clearly designed to denote their rank and status on this ship. The robes were elaborate and a stark contrast to the drab robes and jumpsuits that the rest of the crew were forced to wear.  
  
They looked so different from his friends, Tucker thought. Malcolm's face was covered with scars from the many fights that he had obviously fought, and both he and Travis had long, shaggy hair and beards, but it was Archer that caught Trip's attention. When the captain pushed back his hood and surveyed his domain before sitting down, Trip saw that there was a hardness to the man. He emitted a sadistic presence that totally surrounded him, a presence that Trip prayed his Jonathan Archer would never know.   
  
Apparently Malcolm and Travis were the captain's closest allies, because they had seats of honor right next to Archer. All were wearing weapons and no one had bathed in at least a week. The smell was the worst part of being on this ship, Trip reflected. Even after five days he still hadn't gotten used to the stench.  
  
Archer made everyone else stand for a few moments longer than was necessary just because he could, then he motioned for the others to sit.  
  
Trip took his place with a sigh, careful not to bump the bulge under his shirt. Charlie had thought of everything and had constructed a prosthesis that Trip could wear which would simulate his pregnancy. The device strapped on and felt to the touch like real human skin. It even had a bio-generator inside to simulate infant Xyrillian bio-signs. Trip thought that the invention was brilliant, even though it was uncomfortable to wear.  
  
After much wiggling Trip finally got settled into a tolerable position, just in time for dinner to be served. If you could call the slop that was ladled onto his plate dinner. Trip was so hungry that he was willing to down the gruel, no matter how bad the taste, but his portion was so small, the engineer knew he'd be just as ravenous after dinner as he was before.   
  
Still, he remembered the ferocious hunger that he had felt when he was pregnant and once again reaffirmed that he was doing the right thing. There was no way that Charlie and the baby could survive on these meager rations, and Trip was so glad that they were safely on the other side, probably enjoying one of Chef's scrumptious meals right now.   
  
Scrumptious wasn't a word that applied to Trip's repast however, and he forced himself to pick up his fork. Then a voice frantically hissed in his ear to stop. Trip froze. The warning came from Danny, Charlie's friend. The medic was the only one who knew Trip's real identity, and was the only one Trip could count on for help.  
  
"The captain's share." Danny whispered. Trip nodded his thanks and took his hand away. He'd forgotten about this particular ceremony.  
  
The engineer watched in growing anger as the stewards came by once again. This time to scrape half of everyone's rations back. They piled the food on one plate and placed it before the captain. It was more food than Archer could possibly eat, even if he wanted to. Which he didn't. Archer stared at the plate for a minute, then he deliberately pushed it off of the table. It flipped over in midair and fell to the floor with a splat. The starving crew could only stare in dismay as half their meal had been destroyed right before their very eyes. This little ritual was a stark reminder, designed to prove to the crew that Archer and only Archer could give food and take it away. Trip fought to contain his rage and made himself look away before Archer could read the defiance in his face.   
  
Then the captain clapped his hands and the stewards pushed in a spit with a freshly roasted pig on the skewer. When Trip looked closely he saw that the pig wasn't all that roasted. There was fresh blood dripping down the sides. That didn't stop the captain and his friends though. Leading the way Archer hopped down from his seat and ripped one of the legs off of the pig and started to devour it in front of the hungry crowd. Trip watched with horrified fascination as blood actually dribbled down his chin.  
  
Suddenly sickened, Trip forced himself to concentrate on his own meal. In comparison his gruel looked awfully good, however it only took a few bites of this slop to convince Trip that he had it made back home. Compared to this, re-sequenced protein was an epicurean delight. The engineer vowed right then and there to never complain about replicated foods again.   
  
It didn't take long to finish eating his "delightful" entree, and of course, no one could leave until the captain and his friends were done. Since they had decent portions of food, that took quite some time. After what seemed like hours Archer put his fork down, leaned back in his chair, patted his stomach and declared that he was full.  
  
Finally, Trip thought. He pushed his plate away and made to get up when Danny held him back, hissing about the entertainment.   
  
Oh yeah. Trip nodded his thanks and settled back down. He'd been hoping to be spared witnessing this ritual, but apparently he wasn't so lucky. Tucker's heart sank when he glanced at Danny. From the look on the medic's face Trip had the feeling that the games weren't gonna be any fun at all.  
  
Actuality it wasn't all that bad, not at first anyway. There were just a couple of fights among the crew, then Rostov, an engineer on Trip's own ship, actually wrestled with some sort of animal brought aboard for that very purpose. Rostov won eventually, but not before he was cut up by the creature's claws. Danny mumbled his apologizes and went for his med kit. The medic always had to work during these affairs, but he was grateful that this time Rostov's injuries weren't that serious.  
  
It didn't take the medic long to patch up the combatant, then he rejoined Trip. Tucker thought the worst was over, but quickly learned that the worst was yet to come. Archer gave the signal, then a number of young women dressed in scanty clothes walked into the center of the ring and started to dance. Trip was shocked when he recognized Hoshi as one of the young women. Danny had told him that the only women on this ship were slaves and concubines. That meant that Hoshi... A burst of rage flowed through the engineer. He hated the thought of Hoshi being used this way. Something had to be done.   
  
Danny clearly saw the anger on Trip's face and grabbed his arm. "Please keep still. You don't want to attract attention to yourself."  
  
Trip nodded, but it was hard to just sit and watch as Hoshi and the others were forced to put themselves on display like that in front of everyone. The leering looks the women were getting from Malcolm and Travis, not to mention Archer made it even harder to keep his anger in check, but the engineer forced himself to relax. He had to keep quiet for Charlie's sake.   
  
The dance continued for several more minutes until Archer called "enough." Then the captain left his seat on the dais and hopped down onto the floor. The captain walked to each of the women and looked them up and down, critically inspecting them closely, as if they were only a slab of meat.  
  
Trip ground his teeth as he fought to control himself. He couldn't stand to see those women being ogled in such a degrading way. Then Trip's self restraint was put to the test when Archer stopped in front of Hoshi. Trip prayed that she wouldn't be the once chosen, but no such luck.  
  
Archer eyed Hoshi, then a wicked grin spread across his face, enhancing his features which made him look even more depraved than usual. "Hello there lucky lady. I think you will be my companion this evening. Would you like that?"  
  
In answer, Hoshi flinched away at his touch. This enraged Archer and the captain grabbed her, hard and pulled her toward him. "So, you think you can reject me, do you? Well, I'll teach you a lesson in manners." He raised his arm back and slapped her, hard in the face.  
  
"No!" Trip cried. This was too much. Danny tried to restrain him, but Trip brushed his hand off of his arm and jumped to his feet. "Let her go!"  
  
Surprised, Archer turned and stared at Trip. The engineer had never shown such spirit before and the captain didn't like it. "Ah, my Little Mother has found his backbone, has he?" Archer let Hoshi go with a shove. The dancer scrambled to get out of the way as the captain turned his full attention to Trip. "You don't approve of my dating methods, do you Little Mother?"   
  
"I think you should pick a partner who's more willin'." Trip answered, trying to control his anger and failing. "Forcin' yourself on someone is no fun."  
  
"You should talk." Archer glanced down at the bulge protruding under Trip's shirt. Trip flushed at the implied insult and stepped forward. Archer took this to be an insult of his own. "You're not actually claiming the right of the Captain's Challenge, are you Little Mother? I didn't know you were that brave."  
  
"Or that stupid." Malcolm's voice sailed over from the table.  
  
Captain's Challenge? What the hell was that? Trip looked at Danny who was frantically signaling with his eyes. Whatever a Captain's Challenge was, it couldn't be good. Trip sighed and relaxed his offensive posture. "No, Cap'n. I'm not challengin' you."  
  
"I should think not." Archer felt pleased, his superiority restored. "Never the less, you did ruin my number one plan for my entertainment this evening, so I guess you'll have to be my second choice."   
  
Malcolm and Travis started to chuckle, knowing what was in store. Trip paled as he knew Charlie would at the implied threat to his baby, but he didn't resist as Archer pulled him around the table and into the circle.  
  
Archer's crowd started cheering as the captain threw a right hook at Trip's face. Tucker had no trouble ducking out of the way, but it was hard to keep from fighting back. Now was not the time. He was outnumbered five to one and even if he defeated Archer, the captain's friends would finish him off.   
  
So Trip played the avoidance game. Dodging Archer's blows while pretending to protect the baby, Tucker used the opportunity to study Archer's fighting technique, which to be honest wasn't that good. The captain fought like the bully he was. With no skill or style. Like a bear who was used to winning because he intimidated his opponents. Such a man would not fare that well in a fight with a real opponent and Trip planned to be that opponent. One day soon he was going to take great pleasure in knocking this Archer on his ass.  
  
But he had to survive this encounter first. The crowd's laughter increased every time Archer scored a hit and this caused the captain's ego to swell. In response Archer's attacks increased in ferocity. Fighting to keep from fighting back, Trip backed away from the assault until he was pinned against a table. Trapped, he had no place to go.   
  
"That's a bad move my Little Mother." Archer grinned his evil grin. "How are you going to protect that baby of yours now?"  
  
Trip became desperate. If Archer decided to attack the "baby" he could discover the deception and then the engineer would really be in trouble. He had to find a way out. Looking around Tucker noticed a plate of gruel with a fork sticking out of it right next to him on the table. Acting on impulse, he slammed his hand against the base of the fork, catapulting the slop right into the middle of Archer's forehead.  
  
There was a collective gasp and silence descended into the room. Archer began to wipe the goop from his eye when a small chuckle could be heard. Someone had the gall to actually laugh at the captain! Infuriated, Archer leapt on Trip. Realizing that he made a tactical error, Tucker tried to lunge out of the way, but he didn't get far before Archer had him in his grip.  
  
"Make fun of me, will you?" The captain growled as he started to pound the living daylights out of Tucker. "You'll pay for that."  
  
And Trip knew he would. Concentrating on keeping Archer from discovering the prosthesis, he just managed to keep the device in place while Archer punched at the pod over and over again. Archer's intent was now clear. He didn't just want to punish Trip, he wanted to kill the baby.  
  
Collapsing under the onslaught, Tucker was able to hang onto the bulge until Archer tired of that and started to attack other parts of Trip's body. Archer threw a punch to the engineer's head and that was that. As he was passing out Trip wondered if he'd ever wake up again.  
  
To be continued..... 


	5. Chapter Five

"The Fairest One of All" CHAPTER FIVE  
  
  
  
  
Charlie was staring up in awe at the heart and soul of Enterprise's engine room. "How fast did you say it can go?"   
  
"We've gotten her up to warp four point five so far." Travis was a little surprised at Charlie's surprise. Word was out all over the ship that this Tucker was not their Tucker, but he looked just like their Trip and acted a lot like him too. He was, yet he wasn't. He should know about the warp five reactor, yet he didn't. Travis shook his head to clear it. This whole "parallel universe" thing was so confusing. He decided to forget about all the high tech quantum stuff for now and concentrate on helping his friend. And no matter which Tucker this was, Charlie was his friend.  
  
After lunch with the captain, Charlie wanted to look around the ship, so Archer had asked Travis and Malcolm to play tour guides. It was no coincidence that the first stop happened to be engineering, and Tucker had never seen anything so beautiful as the gleaming reactor laid out before him. "Trip told me you guys could go fast, but warp four point five..."   
  
"She is capable of hitting warp five." Malcolm told him. "In theory, anyway, but we haven't actually pushed her to the limit yet."  
  
The engineer in Charlie really appreciated the effort that was generated to build that marvel before him. "How in the world did you manage to create such a miracle?" Tucker wondered. Then a possible answer came to him. "You seem to be friendly with the Vulcan's over here. Did they help you?"  
  
"Hardly." Reed snorted. Obviously the Vulcan, Human relationship had taken a different path on Charlie's side of the pond. "It took thousands of human engineers nearly a hundred years to come up with the final design."   
  
"Yeah." Travis reached over and brushed the power plant with affection. Next to the captain, Trip and the gang in engineering, no one loved this engine more than he did. After all, he was to only one who actually got to make it go. "You know, Captain Archer's own father was instrumental in building the first prototype."   
  
"Really?" THAT surprise Charlie. He couldn't picture any Archer working on something so positive.  
  
Although you couldn't tell by looking, Reed also felt a trace of admiration for the great machine. "I would never let our Charles Tucker know this, of course. It would go straight to his head, but I think this engine is a representation of one of the best aspects of humanity."  
  
A good aspect of humanity, Charlie thought. How nice for a change. He asked Reed to explain further.   
  
"Well, thousands of people from all over our planet worked together with one goal in mind, to get the human race out of our solar system and really begin to explore the stars, peacefully."  
  
Travis moved forward and gently touched Tucker on the shoulder. He wanted to get this next point across. "We put aside our differences for a larger purpose, and we became a stronger people in the process."  
  
"Wow." Charlie's mind tried to latch onto such a wonderful concept. Peaceful exploration. But this positive version of mankind was so different from his own, it was hard to get a handle on the unusual notion.  
  
Malcolm saw the engineer struggle with the idea, but he thought that Tucker was still focused in on the engine. "I take it you don't have anything like this on your ship?"  
  
Charlie shook his head. "The fastest we can go is warp three." His thoughts still centered on the brutality of his own people caused him to look away from the engine and down on the floor. "It's just as well, I guess."  
  
Malcolm heard the sadness in Tucker's voice, but before he could inquire further Charlie began to sway back and forth a little, and the engineer reached out a hand to the side of the warp reactor to steady himself. Reed was instantly concerned. "Are you all right?"   
  
"Yeah." Charlie nodded. "I'm just a little tired."  
  
Tucker looked more than a little tired to Mayweather. The engineer suddenly looked like death warmed over. "Would you like us to get the doctor for you?"   
  
Charlie looked a little sad at the mention of the doctor's name, but he managed to raise a smile. "Nah. I don't need to bother him with this. I'll be fine after I can get in a little shut eye."  
  
"Well, why don't we get you to your quarters then." Reed suggested, offering Tucker the stability of his arm. The engineer gratefully took a hold of the support and allowed Reed and Mayweather to lead him out of the room.  
  
Once out in the corridor Charlie began to perk up a bit and after a few minutes he was able to walk on his own. Reed hesitated to ask Tucker more about his world, since the engineer was obviously ill, but apparently Travis didn't have such reservations. He was curious. "Charlie. How come you're glad your engine can't go warp five?"  
  
Tucker hesitated for a moment. This universe was so much better than his own and the people were full of optimism and hope. He hated to put a damper on their enthusiasm, but maybe the more they heard about his world the more they would appreciate their own. "I'm glad we can't go faster because we would just use our technology to enslave more people."  
  
"Enslave them?" The thought of anything so obscene was deeply troubling to Reed. He must have misunderstood.  
  
"We don't work together to build things like you do. Well, I suppose we did at first in order to get the weapons we needed, but once we had superior firepower we just went ahead an used it to take everything else we wanted."  
  
"Really?" Apparently Reed hadn't misunderstood. It was beginning to sound like humanity never grew as a race over there. Perhaps they were still the savages that his own people had managed to leave behind decades ago.   
  
"Yep." Charlie continued. "The only reason we have a warp three engine is 'cause we stole it from the Vulcan's. 'Course that pissed 'em off so much that they launched into a war with us."  
  
Travis wasn't sure that he heard that right. "Vulcan's pissed?"  
  
"Savage bunch." Charlie muttered. "Lettin' their emotions rage all over the place. They're a menace to the galaxy."  
  
Oh that was a fascinating tidbit. Vulcan's savage? Reed knew that he shouldn't, but there was no way he could keep this quiet. The armory officer was going to take great pleasure in describing this version of Vulcan philosophy to T'Pol when he got the chance.   
  
Travis' mind, however, was on other things. "This war must be very devastating to your people."  
  
"Nah. It's not too bad." Charlie said as they rounded a corner and headed for officer's country. "The Vulcan's don't have that many ships, so we mainly get caught up in a skirmish or two whenever we run into 'em. There's still plenty of time for plunderin'." Charlie wrapped an arm over his baby's pod and thought about all of the care that he and his child had received since they set foot on this ship. "Your doctor, he's such a nice man."  
  
"We think so." Reed agreed, not sure what this had to do with wars and plundering and the like.   
  
"Are there lots of people on his planet?" Charlie asked.  
  
Travis thought he could detect a tremor flowing through the commander's voice. "Sure." Mayweather wanted to reassure the man. "Lots."  
  
"I think the last census counted at least sixty million heads." Reed added.  
  
"Sixty million." Charlie's eyes closed at the thought. "I'm glad."  
  
"Why?" Reed asked.  
  
"Because..." Tucker's voice faltered for a moment. He was so tired of dealing with all the horrors all the time. "Because in my universe there aren't any Denobulan's."  
  
"Not any?" How could that be, Travis wondered. "Was there some sort of natural disaster that destroyed the doctor's planet?"  
  
The truth turned out to be much worse than that. "They were all wiped out." Charlie hated the memory. Hated this part of his life so much. "We wiped them out."  
  
"You did?" Reed thought Tucker was talking about the human race in general, then it dawned on the armory officer that Charlie was talking about himself. "How could you personally destroy a whole race of people?"  
  
"Well I didn't push the button, but I was on Enterprise when it happened." It seemed like yesterday. Charlie could vividly recall standing at his spot on the bridge watching as Malcolm cheerfully armed their weapons for the dreadful assault that was to come. "It was durin' my first mission. The Earth Council demanded that the Denobulan's join the human empire. When they refused we dropped thermonuclear bombs into their atmosphere and within minutes all life on that world was gone."  
  
There was silence for a few moments as the horror of the action sank in. As an ordnance man Reed focused in on the weapon. "The actively used atomic armaments?" He asked, aghast. "That's barbaric."  
  
A small smile appeared on Charlie's face. "We're barbarians I guess." He admitted before the smile faded away. "I had nightmares about that day for years. All those people... kids like me... gone in an instant..."   
  
Tucker started shaking so much that Travis had to take a hold of him just to steady the engineer. "It's all right, Charlie. We're almost to your quarters. Then you can lie down for awhile." Grateful, Tucker nodded his thanks and hoped he could keep to his feet for that long.  
  
Still thinking about the fate of the Denobulan's on the other side, Malcolm caught on to one small point Charlie made. "What do you mean kids like you? How old were you when you joined Starfleet?"   
  
"Joined Starfleet?" That made Charlie laugh. A long, humorless laugh. "Nobody joins Starfleet. At least not willingly anyway."  
  
"Then how did you get on Enterprise?"   
  
"I guess you could say I was shanghaied."  
  
Shanghaied? To Reed this Starfleet was sounding more and more like the old British Navy. Malcolm wondered if they made the crew eat rotten bread and punished them with flogging and the like. No wonder Charlie was so desperate to get away. "Here we are." Reed said, trying to lighten the mood. "These are Commander Tucker's quarters."  
  
Charlie was a little surprised. "Up here? These are the rooms reserved only for the elite on my ship."  
  
"Sure." Travis was a little confused. "You're a commander, aren't you?" Why wouldn't Charlie stay in quarters like these?  
  
Travis may have been puzzled, but Reed understood perfectly. "I suppose it's networking and kissing up to Archer and his click that determines things like good accommodations where you come from."  
  
"Ah..." Charlie was enlightened. "You know my ship."  
  
"No." Reed admitted. "I've just studied human history."  
  
"In any case..." Travis interrupted, back to the business at hand. "Under the circumstances the captain thought it would be all right if you stayed in Commander Tucker's quarters while you're with us."  
  
Reed, ever conscientious about security matters laughed. "The captain believed that you might as well, since the lock is all ready keyed to your thumb print anyway."   
  
Charlie smiled at Reed's little multi-dimensional joke, then pushed the lock with his finger and to his surprise it actually opened. When Tucker got inside he looked around the room in awe. "All this space is just for me?"  
  
"It certainly is." Reed assured him.   
  
"I take it your quarters on your Enterprise aren't so big?" Travis asked.   
  
"Only the cap'n and his buddies live in palaces like this. I bunk down in a dorm with six guys."  
  
"Well, go ahead and enjoy the space." Reed told him. "Because these are your quarters for as long as you're here."  
  
"Thanks." Charlie looked around the room, then his eyes focused in on a picture of a middle aged couple that was resting on Trip's desk. "Oh, God." With trembling fingers the engineer picked it up and stared at the picture lovingly.  
  
Reed knew the identity of the couple and partially understood his reaction. "I take it they're your parents too?"   
  
"Are they alive in this universe?" Charlie asked, still shaking.  
  
"I believe so."   
  
"I'm glad." A single tear began to fall down one cheek. "My folks were killed tryin' to stop the Starfleet recruiters when they came to take me away. First mom, then dad was shot down before my eyes." The engineer ran his fingers over the glass of the frame, as if touching the picture could bring him closer to his lost family. "They dragged me away so fast that I couldn't even get a picture of them out of the house to remember them by."  
  
"I'm sure..." Reed started to say, but then he had to clear his throat of the emotional lump that had formed before he could start again. "I'm sure our Commander Tucker wouldn't mind if you kept that one." After all, their Trip could get more.  
  
"Thank you." Charlie clutched the picture close to his heart. Then he headed for the bunk and sat down heavily upon it. "If you fellas don't mind I'm gonna have me a little siesta."  
  
"Rest as long as you want." Reed told him. "When you wake up please call Travis or myself and one of us will come and escort you to the mess hall for dinner."  
  
That surprised Charlie. "You mean you're not gonna post a guard? After all, I'm a stranger to your ship."  
  
Reed moved in closer to Charlie. He wanted his meaning to be very clear. "You're also our friend. A friend that we trust. We don't need any guard."  
  
Overwhelmed, Charlie nodded his thanks and the other two men left him to his rest.  
  
Outside the door Travis just stopped and starred at Reed oddly. He stared so intently and for so long that Reed started to squirm before asking "What?"   
  
"It's not like you to be so trusting." Travis pointed out.  
  
"Charlie's our friend." Reed protested. "Different universe or not, I'm not going to treat him as a prisoner. Besides..." the armory officer added as they started to move down the hall. "I've got the entire corridor on full video surveillance. Just in case."  
  
Relieved, Travis clapped his friend on the back. That was more like it.  
  
To be continued....... 


	6. Chapter Six

"The Fairest One of All" CHAPTER SIX  
  
  
  
  
Trip groaned. He didn't think there was a single part of his body that didn't hurt. The engineer lay perfectly still, hoping to ease his discomfort by not moving, but the aches continued to throb and intensify. Tucker had nothing else to concentrate on but the pain, so finally he decided that he would be better off awake. At least then he could try to focus on something else.   
  
Trip opened his eyes and found himself lying on the narrow bunk that was his home on this ship. Knowing that he would probably feel something bad, Tucker took the risk anyway and lifted up his head. The pain wasn't as severe as he expected, but he didn't want to move any other part of his body. Not just yet anyway. Trip looked around, but the six men dorm room seemed to be empty. Empty of everyone except Danny that was.  
  
"How are you feeling?" The medic asked.  
  
"Like I've been run over by a steamroller."  
  
"Steamroller?" It was obvious that Danny had never heard of such a thing.  
  
"Never mind." Trip sighed and looked around. "Where is everybody?"  
  
"They decided to give you some privacy."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Danny hesitated for a moment, then brought out the prosthesis from under the bed. The device was completely twisted out of shape and totally battered. Trip shuddered when he pictured that much damage inflicted on an unborn child, which was had been Archer's intent. "Good God."  
  
The medic nodded. "It's ruined and I don't think you have the parts to make another one."  
  
"Or the time." Trip looked over the broken device and sighed. The memory of the trauma he felt when his own baby was removed was still sharp, even though she was still alive and healthy somewhere. Tucker knew that he was going to have to hold onto those feelings of loss and use them to convince everyone on this ship that he was grieving. "I think we need to tell everyone that I lost the baby."  
  
"I agree." Danny fingered one of the straps and the broken part fell off in his hand. "No one who saw the beating you took would be surprised."  
  
"It's just as well. I couldn't keep the charade up much longer anyway." Trip eyed the prosthesis again. "Thank God, Charlie wasn't here."  
  
The sound of the hatch opening kicked them out of their thoughts and galvanized them into action. Danny quickly shoved the damaged prosthesis under the bed, while Trip laid back down and tried to portray the image of a grieving parent.  
  
The act was needed because Archer was the one who had come a visiting. "Well, well." The captain asked in a mockingly cheerful voice. "How is my Little Mother doing?"  
  
Disgusted, Trip couldn't even bear to face him and rolled away so he wouldn't have to look at the man. This evil caricature of his friend. It didn't hurt that this action added to the image of someone in emotional pain, so Archer was thoroughly convinced when Danny told him that the baby was lost.   
  
Of course the "supposed" death of a child had no emotional impact on this Jonathan Archer. "Just as well." The captain commented. "This whole male pregnancy thing was losing it's amusement value anyway."  
  
Trip ground his teeth. How could this guy be so uncaring?  
  
Archer noted Trip's reaction and patted the engineer on the shoulder. "Cheer up, Little Mother. Tell you what, on the next planet we raid I'll steal a baby for you to play with. Would you like that?"  
  
Tucker closed his eyes and Archer started to laugh. A loud, nasty laugh. There was no doubt about it. Trip was in hell.  
  
**********  
  
"What'd you say this game was called?"  
  
"Ping Pong." Hoshi handed Charlie a paddle and began to explain the rules while Malcolm and Travis were setting up the table in a corner of the mess hall.  
  
Dr. Phlox had suggested that Charlie, who was growing larger every day, get some moderate exercise, and Hoshi thought that ping pong might do the trick. While they were getting ready Tucker pulled the comm officer aside. "Say, Hoshi. You wouldn't happen to know the name of Cap'n Archer's momma, would you?"  
  
"No I don't." She looked at him with quiet curiosity. "I'm sure that I could find out, if you wouldn't mind telling me why you want to know." When Charlie whispered the answer in her ear she smiled and nodded cheerfully. "I'll let you know as soon as I can." She promised him.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Teaming up with Hoshi, Charlie took to the game immediately, reveling in any type of sport that didn't involve hurting anyone. After several minutes of play their team was tied with Malcolm and Travis, then Charlie made a blinding return which broke the deadlock and won them the game. "That was a great move." Hoshi told him.  
  
"Yeah." Travis added. "You sure picked up the hang of ping pong fast."  
  
"A little too fast if you ask me." Malcolm grumbled a good natured complaint. "You are going to play another game, aren't you? We need a chance to get some payback."  
  
Malcolm may have meant his tone to be a friendly challenge, but there was enough menace in his inflection that, just for an instant, he sounded like his counterpart and Charlie flashed back to the other side.  
  
It was just after his pregnancy had been discovered and Malcolm had come up with the idea to include Charlie in Archer's games. The engineer wasn't receptive at first, fearing harm to his unborn child.  
  
"You will fight the captain in tonight's festivities, won't you?" Reed asked, the threat heavy in his voice. "Everyone is looking forward to seeing your bout with the captain."  
  
"It's too dangerous." The engineer protested. "If the cap'n accidentally hit's me in the abdomen he could hurt my baby."  
  
"That's the point!" Wrapped up in the image of the upcoming battle, Malcolm had complete disregard for the safety of the child. "How many bouts will it take before the captain actually lands a punch on your pod? I hear the betting pools are starting up all ready."  
  
Tucker was horrified but knew it was true. He had to do something, but standing up to Malcolm was almost as dangerous as standing up to the captain, and he barely survived that. What would happen if he did it again? He placed his hand over the pod and could feel the tiny heart beat of the other life that was within him. Charlie sighed. As terrified as he was of the consequences he knew that he'd have to risk a small rebellion. "I won't do it. It's too risky."  
  
"You will participate!" Malcolm pressing the cusp of his argument home by pointing the tip of his dagger right next to the pod. "Or I will kill your baby right here and now."  
  
Reed would do it too. Charlie knew now that had no choice but to play along. Feeling like a total coward, Tucker caved in. So much for standing up to his oppressors.   
  
"Charlie!" The engineer heard Malcolm's voice. Only this time he heard a note of concern. The image wavered. He looked up at Malcolm again, only this time the armory officer was holding a ping pong paddle instead of a dagger in his hand. Tucker realized that he was back in the mess hall, on the good side of the looking glass. He and his baby were safe.   
  
"Charlie?" Malcolm asked again. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." The engineer tired to gather up his wits. He may have tried to sound positive, but the others didn't like the look on his face at all.   
  
"Should we call the doctor?" Hoshi asked.  
  
"No." Charlie shook his head. "I'm okay."  
  
"We can see that." Travis wasn't buying his all right routine. He was tempted to get Dr. Phlox down here anyway, despite the engineer's wishes.   
  
He wasn't the only one. "At least sit down." Malcolm insisted. "Before you fall down."  
  
Charlie blinked. The two images, good and evil Malcolm were simultaneously fighting for space in his mind. It took a lot of effort for the engineer to push the evil vision away, but finally Charlie was successful and only the good Malcolm remained. He said he was sorry and sat heavily in a chair.  
  
Sorry? Malcolm wondered. Sorry for what? Then Reed displayed some of that intuitive insight that made him such a fine armory officer. "You just flashed back to the other ship, didn't you? Something I said reminded you of my evil twin, didn't it?"  
  
Tucker rubbed his eyes with his hand. "Sometimes I have problems rememberin' where I am."  
  
They all sympathized, but Hoshi did most of all. She had more trouble than anyone else on this ship adapting to life out in the final frontier and she knew how difficult it was to feel like you really belonged. "We know it's hard for you, Charlie."   
  
Tucker saw all the sympathy coming his way, and while a part of him reveled in it, another part felt guilty. Like he let them down. "Sorry to be such a chicken."  
  
"Chicken?" To Travis Charlie was totally the opposite. "I'd say you're a pretty brave guy to risk everything to transport over here."  
  
"You sure are." Hoshi laid an encouraging hand on his shoulder. "Most of our people are afraid to beam only a few miles, much less transport into a totally different universe. That takes a lot of guts."   
  
Charlie sensed that Hoshi knew where he was coming from. That they all did, but still...  
  
Reed could see that they still hadn't quite gotten their message across. "Believe me, Commander, I am amazed at the level of self control that you've shown since you've arrived here."  
  
"What are ya talkin' about, Lieutenant? I've been runnin' like a scared rabbit ever since I set foot on your deck plating and we all know it. How can that be brave?"  
  
"You see the faces of your adversaries every day, just like you saw your tormentor's face in mine a little while ago. Yet instead of reacting instinctively, you control yourself and give your rational mind enough time to identify your friends from your enemies, even though our mere presence must be terrifying at times. Your effort is truly an courageous act, and I think that makes you one of the bravest men that I've ever known."  
  
Charlie just sat still for a minute and let their words echo in his mind. No one had ever worked so hard to make him feel better before. Most people on his side were so quick to judge and never bothered to get to know the real you. Tucker knew that he was so lucky to be here. "Thanks. Thank you all."  
  
Hoshi shifted her arm to take his hand in her own. "It's our pleasure." The engineer relished in her touch for a moment, then he suddenly gasped. His fingers instinctively tightened his grip on Hoshi's hand while Tucker cradled his abdomen with his other arm.  
  
"Charlie?"  
  
When the engineer didn't instantly answer Reed gave an order to Travis. "Go get the doctor." The helmsman was halfway out the door when Charlie called for him to stop, gasping that he was okay. Reed begged to differ. "You don't look all right to me."   
  
"Nothin's wrong." Charlie was still gasping for breath, then the others were surprised when a smile actually began to cross the engineer's face. "My little girl's just decided to start kickin' up a storm, that's all."  
  
"Really?" The relief in the room was palatable. Then, as Reed watched Tucker's reaction to the onslaught of new sensations emanating from within him, Malcolm began to sense a bit of the joy that Charlie must feel while playing host to such a new and fragile life form.   
  
Tucker saw his interest and made an offer. "You wanna feel?"  
  
Malcolm was honored and a little awed at the trust Charlie was placing in them, in him with that simple statement. Cautiously the armory officer extended a hand. As his fingers brushed across the engineer's abdomen he could feel the skin buck and buckle beneath his fingertips. The baby was indeed kicking up a storm. "My, my. It looks like she will make quite the football player someday."  
  
"Football?"  
  
"You mean soccer?" Travis offered.  
  
Mayweather's definition didn't enlighten Charlie any. Hoshi was going to fill him in when the engineer figured it out. "Let me guess. Another friendly game?"  
  
"For the most part." Reed admitted, remembering a soccer match or two that he played in college where he came out of them with more than one set of bruises. Then Reed reminded himself that compared to the games Charlie was used to, soccer was indeed a friendly sport.  
  
Tucker reveled in the warm feelings that surrounded him. God, he loved this place and he was so lucky to be here. He concentrated on the positive and deliberately didn't allow himself to think about the uncertain future that he knew was to come.  
  
  
  
To be continued.... 


	7. Chapter Seven

"The Fairest One of All" CHAPTER SEVEN  
  
  
  
  
  
The weeks passed and the child inside of Charlie was getting bigger and bigger. Tucker relished living in the safe atmosphere of this Enterprise, but he feared for the future of his daughter. Everyone knew it, so the crew worked hard to keep the engineer's spirits up and help him forget his troubles. With that in mind Hoshi came up with what everyone thought was a great idea. The crew wanted to give Charlie a surprise baby shower.  
  
Archer approved of the celebration but vetoed the surprise part. "In Charlie's neck of the woods when people jump out of dark corners and yell, it's more likely to be an assignation attempt instead of an invitation to a party." The captain pointed out. "Go ahead and get started Hoshi, but better leave the surprise part out of it."  
  
"Yes sir." The comm officer acknowledged and ran off to start planning.  
  
And so, with only one week left in Charlie's pregnancy, Archer lead the engineer to the mess hall. "Everyone wanted to do something special for you and the baby, so we decided to give you a little party."  
  
"Party?" Charlie asked the question like he'd never heard the word before, and he hadn't. "What's that?"  
  
Somehow Archer wasn't surprised. He figured they didn't have a lot of parties on Charlie's Enterprise. "It's a sort of celebration." The engineer's mind flashed on the games in the circle and his face paled. Archer saw what Charlie was thinking and hastened to reassure him. "No, no. It's not that kind of thing at all. It's fun. You'll see."  
  
Tucker nodded and forced himself to relax. This crew had done nothing but treat him more than decently ever since he arrived. It was time to quit suspecting, consciously or subconsciously their motives, just because they happen to look like the bullies back home. It was time to trust them totally.  
  
Seeing that Charlie had calmed down, Archer gestured for him to enter the mess hall first. When Tucker did he was amazed at what he saw. The room was full of balloons and streamers and in one corner there was a big cake. The engineer was eagerly greeted by his friends, who sat him at the center of the action. "What'd you say this is?" Charlie asked, a little dazed at it all.  
  
Hoshi filled him in before Archer could answer. "It's a baby shower."  
  
"A shower?" When Charlie looked to the ceiling as if expecting rain any second everyone laughed and assured him that there would be no inclement weather here.   
  
"Like I said," Archer reminded him. "It's a party."  
  
"Oh yeah." Charlie nodded and looked around. "So what do you do at this... shower?"  
  
"Well, besides the cake and the punch, the whole point of the party is to give you some presents for the baby."  
  
"Presents?" Tucker asked. "What are those?"  
  
Charlie's question took everyone in the room by surprise. How could he not know what a present was?  
  
"You know." Hoshi stammered to explain. "A present is a gift."  
  
Obviously Charlie had no idea what she was talking about. Archer's heart sank when he realized that Tucker had probably never received a present in his life. The captain tried to clarify things for the engineer, but how do you explain a present to someone who had never even heard of the concept before?   
  
The captain gestured to the gift table. "See all those boxes over there?" When Charlie nodded he continued. "They're called presents." Archer picked one up and handed it to Tucker. "It's wrapped with pretty paper to hide what's inside it."  
  
Tucker had never seen anything to beautiful before. He would be the envy of all of his bunkmates for merely possessing such a box, yet Archer hinted that more was actually inside. "Why do you hide the..." Charlie stumbled for the right word... "Gift?"  
  
Archer nodded that he had it right. "We hide it to add to the surprise when you open the box. Presents contain only nice things." The captain hastened to add. "In this case most of these are for your baby."  
  
"All of these are for my little girl?" Charlie looked overwhelmed and a little bewildered. "But what do you expect in return?"  
  
"Nothing." Hoshi replied, slightly dismayed that Tucker still expected that they would want a quid quo pro for everything. "In this universe we get a certain satisfaction when we give to others. That feeling is our reward."  
  
Charlie shook his head at such a bizarre, but wonderful concept. Then he looked to Archer for guidance. "So, what do I do next?"  
  
"First you look on the box. There's usually a card on the paper that tells you who that gift is from."  
  
"Oh." Tucker peered closely and read... "To Charlie and his baby from Malcolm." The engineer was amazed. Four weeks ago a Malcolm Reed was threatening to kill his child, but now on this other side, a similar, yet different man was actually giving his little girl a present. This was just another example of how the people here were so much better than the folks back home. Trip looked up and smiled at Reed. "Thanks."  
  
Malcolm returned the smile. "You're most welcome."  
  
"So, what is it?"  
  
"You find that out by unwrapping the paper." Archer pointed out.   
  
"How do I do that?"  
  
"Usually you rip the paper off so you can see what's inside."  
  
"No!" Charlie protested. "It's so pretty. I don't want to ruin it."   
  
The engineer looked so upset at the thought of wrecking such pretty paper that Hoshi couldn't stand it. "That's okay, Charlie. You can remove the tape at the ends and bottom and lift the paper off in one piece."  
  
"Tape?" Charlie asked, then the engineer in him took over and he examined the package carefully. "Oh, I see." He got the idea and started to carefully remove the cellophane. Within seconds he had the paper off in one, large sheet and carefully folded it and set it beside him. Then he looked at Malcolm for permission. When the armory officer nodded, Charlie opened the box and gasped. "What is this?" He brought a stuffed animal out of the box.  
  
"It's called a Teddy Bear." Malcolm explained. "Children in our universe love to cuddle up with stuffed animals. It gives them a sense of security to know that they have a companion of their very own.  
  
Overwhelmed, Charlie cuddled the bear to his own chest as his eyes began to fill up with tears at the magnitude of such a gift. His simple gratitude set off a chain reaction and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  
  
After that the party kicked into full gear and everyone shared in Charlie's joy as he opened each present. Soon the engineer was surrounded with clothes, toys, diapers, everything that a baby could possibly need. Tucker was having a wonderful time, and Malcolm realized that this was probably the best day of Charlie's entire life.  
  
The contrast between Charlie's home and their own was never more striking than at that moment, and Reed wasn't the only one to feel it. Hoshi was the first to put it into words. "We are so lucky."  
  
The armory officer nodded. They were so incredibly lucky to have been born in this universe rather than the other. This feeling only intensified as he watched Charlie play with a rattle that he'd been given, because Malcolm knew that the engineer had probably been denied such pleasures when he was a child. Suddenly the armory officer was filled with a dark foreboding. Malcolm quickly made excuses to Hoshi and crossed the room to join the captain. "Sir, may I have a word with you for a moment?"  
  
"Sure." Archer lead Malcolm out of the mess hall and into the corridor. Before Reed could open his mouth the captain held up his hand. "I know what you're thinking. You don't want to send Charlie back."  
  
"How can we, sir? He'd be even more vulnerable over there with a baby to take care of than he is right now being pregnant. The odds of them both surviving are very, very small."  
  
"I know." The captain ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I don't want to send him back either, but we can't leave our Trip over there forever. We need him back too."  
  
"Why can't they both stay over here?"   
  
"Two Trip Tucker's in the same place might get kind of confusing, besides I'd like to help the other people on Charlie's ship too if I could.  
  
"Oh?" Malcolm perked up at the tone in Archer's voice. "It sounds to me like you've got a plan."  
  
"The beginnings of one, Malcolm. The beginnings of one." Archer clapped the armory officer on the shoulder. "Let's not worry about this for the rest of today and let Charlie enjoy his party, but tomorrow we go to work."  
  
"Yes sir." Malcolm smiled and followed Archer back into the mess hall, feeling better than he had in a long time.  
  
  
  
  
To be continued....... 


	8. Chapter Eight

"The Fairest One of All." CHAPTER EIGHT  
  
  
  
  
The next week passed quickly and Charlie grew to be the size of a small house. It wasn't going to be long before Enterprise would add another name to it's crew manifest. Knowing time was growing short, Archer asked the doctor to give him daily briefings on the engineer's progress. So far everything was looking good.  
  
"Commander Tucker is doing just fine, Captain." Phlox gave Archer a synopsis of Tucker's condition while he puttered around his sickbay, putting things away. "The extra Xyrillian hormones have compensated for his male anatomy and have facilitated an opening in the commander's body which should allow for a near normal delivery."  
  
"Really?" A part of Archer was curious as to how this all was exactly going to work, but then a burst of squeamishness hit him. He knew that he would have to learn all the gruesome details, after all he was going to be in here to offer his support while Charlie was giving birth, but he wasn't looking forward to it.   
  
The captain took a deep breath and told himself to suck it up. He'd faced worse things in the past and he would make it through this one too. Archer forced himself to listen carefully to the doctor's briefing on the matter, but then the captain focused in on the most important point. "The baby is all right, then?"  
  
"Oh yes. The commander's increased caloric intake and my growth enhancing injections have made up for his malnutrition during the early days of his pregnancy, and by all accounts the child is doing just fine. I'd say within a week on the outside the commander should give birth to a healthy baby girl."  
  
Yes, Archer thought, but then what? The captain thanked the doctor for keeping him informed then left, determined to find Charlie and do something about his uncertain future right now.   
  
Predictably, he tracked Tucker to the mess hall. The engineer had recently discovered ice cream and was determined to sample all five hundred flavors in the database. Archer was glad to see that Malcolm and Travis were with him. It would save the captain from having to send for the pair, and he wanted them to be in on this conference. "Hi fellas." Archer said. "Mind if I join you?"  
  
"Of course not, Captain." Malcolm gestured to a seat next to him.  
  
"Thanks." Archer eyed Charlie's ice cream. "What flavor are you on?"  
  
"Two hundred and thirty nine." The engineer answered, his mouth full. "It's called... Tutti... Tutti..."  
  
"Tutti Frutti." Travis finished for him.  
  
"Tutti Frutti, that's right." Charlie smiled, finishing a bite.  
  
"Which one is your favorite?" Archer asked.  
  
"I don't know." Charlie thought about it then shrugged. "I guess I like 'em all. I like everythin' about this place."  
  
"I know that you do." The captain sighed, then dropped the conversation into a more serious mode. "Look, Charlie... about that..."  
  
The engineer ducked away and fiddled with his spoon, unwilling to meet Archer's gaze. "I know, Cap'n. My time here is almost up." Tucker spread his fingers over the bulge that protected his unborn child and felt her tiny heart beat. His little girl was so close to entering this nice world, and Charlie knew he couldn't bear it if anything happened to her now. Tucker looked up at the captain with tear filled eyes. "I know you hafta send me home after the baby is born. You need your own Trip Tucker back, but couldn't you please let my daughter stay over here? She'll die back on that ship, I know she will. Please, Cap'n!"  
  
Archer's heart started to break when he heard that wrenching plea. He wanted to accommodate Charlie, but... "You shouldn't be separated from your child."  
  
Taking that for rejection, Tucker's heart fell. Rationally Charlie knew that his time on the good side was limited, and he was fortunate to be able to deliver his baby here at all. It was stupid to believe that he could have any more than that, but Tucker had come to pin his hopes, unreasonable as they may be, on this man sitting before him. Although Archer wasn't violating their original agreement, a part of Charlie couldn't quite believe that the captain was letting him down so severely.   
  
Archer knew that Tucker was currently thinking the worst, so he didn't let the engineer fret for very long. "While you and your baby need to be together, I can't send you back to that ship the way it is now either."  
  
Charlie looked up at Archer, and for the first time the captain saw real hope in his eyes. "You mean we can both stay?"  
  
"As a last resort yes." Archer told him. "After we try something that I have in mind."  
  
"Try what?" Tucker kicked himself for losing faith in this captain and vowed never to do it again. If Archer had some plan hatching in his mind, the engineer was willing to do whatever he could to help. "What are ya talkin' about, Cap'n?"  
  
"Charlie, you told me that most of you crew were good people, and the officers were the ones causing all of the trouble."  
  
"Yeah, that's right. It's Cap'n Archer's little terror click that's got everyone runnin' for cover."  
  
"So, how many people are in this click?"  
  
Charlie thought about it. "Well, you've got the Cap'n, Malcolm and Travis as the leaders, and each of them owns a set of body guards and enforcers. All in all about fifteen people I expect, but they all jump to Cap'n Archer's tune, a course."  
  
Archer nodded. Fifteen. Not as bad as he feared. "What if those fifteen people were off of your ship. What would life be like for the rest of you then?"  
  
"Well... it would be great, but..." Charlie's eyes opened wide as the implications of Archer's question sank in. "You can't be thinkin' about gettin' rid of the cap'n?"  
  
"That's exactly what I'm thinking."   
  
"But no one has ever been able to do that!" The idea was inconceivable. "Oh a few idiots have tried the Captain's Challenge before, but nobody's been able to beat Cap'n Archer. It's impossible!"  
  
Malcolm tapped Tucker on the arm to get his attention. "Charlie, look around you." The armory officer gestured to the room and the ship that surrounded them. "You know us, and you know what we're capable of. There's no reason why your crew can't live like this as well. Nothing is impossible."  
  
"Well, yeah but..." Tucker thought about all of the wonders he'd discovered since he set foot on this Enterprise. All the things he'd learned about these people. At times he thought they could do anything. Tucker focused in on Archer. He knew how strong and determined this man could be, but... "Do you really think you can take on the Cap'n?"  
  
In response Archer just hitched his chair closer. "Tell me more about this Captain's Challenge."  
  
**********  
  
On the other side, Trip was tinkering with the transporter controls. Nothing was really wrong with the unit, but it had been three long weeks since he came to visit this lovely ship. His only return ticket was the transporter pad right before him and he wanted to make damn sure that it was in working order. Besides, today was mail day.  
  
Trip and Charlie had agreed on a communications schedule before the pregnant engineer headed over to the good side. Trip was to be near the transporter at 22:00 hours every three days in order to send or receive a message. The letters weren't long, just short notes on Trip's part to reassure his friends that he was still okay, and return postings on Archer's part to assure the engineer that he hadn't been forgotten. Not that the captain would ever leave him here, Trip knew, still it was good to get news from home. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept him going.  
  
Trip checked his watch and began to fidget. Still three minutes to go. Archer's last message said that Charlie was due to deliver that baby any day now. Tucker had pictured giving birth when he was pregnant, and was more than a little relieved when he was spared that particular indignity, but still the engineer worried about his counterpart and hoped that everything was going okay.  
  
Fighting the urge to pace, that would draw too much unwanted attention, Trip checked his watch for the umpteenth time. Finally the numerals flipped over to register twenty two hundred hours and the hum of the transporter kicked in. A few seconds later the small padd that Trip had put on the dais disappeared and another took it's place. Moving quickly, Tucker scooped it up and unlocked the message with his personal code. The engineer sighed with relief. It was indeed a letter from the captain. His captain.   
  
Eagerly, Trip started to read. There was no word on the baby yet, but Archer laid out for Tucker a plan that he wanted to put into action shortly after the child was born. As Trip scrolled down the text a smile began to form on his face. Oh, he was gonna like this a whole lot.  
  
**********  
  
The next evening was Friday night at the movies and Charlie was having a great time. The engineer had quickly fallen in love with the medium and came to adore romance stories, especially those with happy endings.   
  
Archer was sitting next to Charlie when a small gasp came from the engineer. The captain could sense that Tucker tightened up, stayed clenched for a moment, then relaxed. "Charlie?" Archer whispered the question and Tucker nodded. That was a contraction all right. The captain glanced at his watch, ready to time the next one when it arrived. Archer knew that it was early. They didn't need to go to sickbay just yet.  
  
Then the contractions began to increase in increments and intensity. Although Charlie tried to be quiet, it wasn't long before those sitting around him became aware of what was going on. Attention began to shift from the screen to the audience, so no one was surprised, when after an hour or so, Charlie clutched up tight and let out a giant, pain filled heave.  
  
"Okay, that's it." Archer said. "Time for you to go to sickbay." Tucker just kept his jaw clamped shut and allowed the captain to help him up. After a few steps Archer turned back to the crew who were staring at them, the movie forgotten. "We're having a baby." The crowed ooohed and offered Charlie encouragement as Archer guided him out the door.  
  
**********  
  
How long is this bloody thing supposed to take?" Reed's frustration was evident as he paced the mess hall floor. The crew had abandoned the film, and were clustered in little groups, waiting for news. "It's been bloody hours."  
  
"Two hours, twenty six minutes and fifteen seconds." T'Pol pointed out with her usual Vulcan efficiency.  
  
"Thanks." Reed said, letting a trace of sarcasm into his voice. How could she be so damn calm at a time like this?  
  
"Will you relax." Hoshi admonished. "People have been having babies for thousands of years. It takes as long as it takes."  
  
"Women have had babies for thousands of years." Reed corrected. "This is the first time that this has happened to a man. Who knows what kinds of complications there might be."  
  
"Or there may be none." The calm Vulcan voice of reason pointed out. "It does no good to worry about scenarios that may not occur. It would be more prudent, and less stressful for you to assume that all is going well, until facts present themselves to the contrary."  
  
"Yeah Malcolm." Travis added. "You know. No news is good news."  
  
"I suppose." Reed sighed and dropped into a chair. "It's just so hard to wait."  
  
"Charlie will be fine." Mayweather predicted, trying to make his voice sound confident, despite the butterflies that continued to assail the helmsman's nerves. "He's got both the doctor and the captain with him. They'll make sure that everything turns out all right."  
  
"I know they will." Reed admitted. "Thank God he's here instead of on the other side." They all shuddered collectively, not even wanting to picture it.   
  
Fortunately at that moment the intercom clicked on. "Attention all hands, this is the Captain." Archer's tinny voice sounded over the speaker. "If you'll turn your monitors to channel B there's something here you might want to see."  
  
Hoshi all but ran to the controls of the projector and within moments the picture of a smiling Charlie holding a small, squirming baby was projected onto the screen. A collective sigh gushed out of the crew. People started jockeying for position, each fighting to get a closer look at the child, while Archer's voice continued in the background.   
  
"Our new crew member arrived at 19:41 hours. She weighs eight pounds and ten ounces and both father and daughter are doing just fine." In sickbay Archer cut the microphone, but left the picture on so the crew could continue to get a good look.   
  
Tired but happy, Tucker was staring with amazement and wonder at his new daughter as she squirmed in his arms. The tiny baby was rust colored and had scales all over her body, but she was beautiful to him. Finally, after all these years, Tucker had a family again. "Thank you, Cap'n." The engineer's voice trembled a bit. "My little girl wouldn't be alive without you."  
  
"You're entirely welcome, Charlie." Archer reached down and brushed the baby's cheek. He could feel the rough scales vibrate under his fingers instead of smooth skin. The sensation was odd, but oddly comforting. "Have you come up with a name yet?"  
  
"I've been thinkin' about it. My momma's name, an' Trip's too I expect, was Belle."  
  
"Belle is a lovely name." The captain agreed.  
  
"Well, actually..." Charlie hesitated. He knew that just saying thanks to Archer for making such a miracle happen wasn't enough to pay the cap'n back for all he had done for Tucker and his daughter, so the engineer had thought up another way to honor the cap'n, and to give Archer a tiny idea of how much he meant to them. "I thought I'd call her Annabelle."  
  
Archer froze. His fingers stopped their motion, lightly resting on the baby's chin. The captain was shocked to his very core by that one word. "My mother's name is Ann."   
  
Charlie looked him straight in the eye and smiled. He had wanted to name his daughter after the captain somehow, and was happy that Archer understood. "I know."  
  
Archer was overwhelmed with the gesture. If he ever needed confirmation that helping Charlie and this baby was the right thing to do, this was it. Still, the captain knew that the coming days weren't going to be easy. They were going to have to fight to win Annabelle a safe haven to grow up in, and as Archer glanced down at the baby again he knew it was a fight that they were going to have to win.  
  
  
  
  
  
To be continued..... 


	9. Chapter Nine

"The Fairest One of All" CHAPTER NINE  
  
  
  
A week passed since Charlie had given birth, and Tucker spent most of the intervening time recuperating and getting to know his beautiful daughter better, but the others didn't just sit on their rumps for the entire 168 hours. Plans were made, weapons readied and details attended to.   
  
Finally, when Charlie was fit enough for action, the crew gathered together at the transporter dais and began to prepare for their assault. Malcolm, Travis and Archer concealed phase pistols within their simple alt-universe crew robes, but it had been decided that Charlie would pass on carrying a weapon.   
  
Malcolm hadn't had time to check him out on the pistol thoroughly since the armory officer had been too busy teaching the engineer hand to hand combat, which Archer deemed was more important. Three phase pistols, and a healthy supply of Dr. Phlox's patented instant tranquilizer would be armament enough.   
  
Besides, Charlie had his hands full at the moment. The engineer was holding his daughter tight. While he was confident that Archer's plan was going to work, a part of him was deathly afraid that he would never see his little girl again.   
  
Archer felt a pang of guilt, not certain if he really wanted to put a brand new parent through what was to come. "Charlie, are you sure you want to do this?"  
  
"I'm sure." Holding Annabelle like this only strengthened his resolve. "I appreciate all the help you've given me Cap'n, and I appreciate what you're about to do, but you're not goin' in alone. This is my fight too." The confidence in Tucker's voice laid Archer's fears to rest. The engineer was ready.   
  
Tucker may have been prepared for battle, but that didn't mean that Charlie wasn't a little reluctant to hand his brand new baby over to Phlox's charge. "You'll take good care of her, won't you? If anythin' goes wrong, I mean"  
  
"You have my word." The doctor promised.  
  
Charlie gestured to a bag, chock full of baby stuff, that was resting at his feet. "Here's enough formula to last a week, an' you gotta change her diaper every three hours or so. Make sure to use plenty of lotion when you do, I don't want her to get diaper rash."  
  
"I understand, Commander." Phlox calmly let Charlie give the orders, even though the doctor was the one who taught Charlie about the intricacies of baby care only a few short weeks ago. Phlox didn't bring this fact to the commander's attention. He knew how worried the new father was.   
  
"Now remember," Charlie went on, not having actually let go of the child yet. "If she gets frisky she likes to be bounced, not rocked."  
  
"All right."  
  
"But if she gets cranky she likes to be rocked, not bounced."  
  
"Commander!" While sympathetic, the doctor had heard enough. If Phlox let Tucker ramble on they could be here all day. "I've taken care of dozens of babies for dozens of years. Don't worry, Annabelle will do just fine here."  
  
"I know she will." Charlie sighed, and kissed his daughter one more time. "I love you my little girl." He whispered. Then Tucker forced himself to do the hardest thing he had even done up until that point. He let Phlox take his child out of his arms.   
  
Tucker simply watched the doctor hold his baby for a moment, then steeled up his courage and joined his team. The fight to win a home for Annabelle was about to begin.  
  
**********  
  
Trip took his place at the banquet table. It was his first appearance at dinner since the night Archer beat the crap out of him and fortunately the engineer had been able to keep a low profile in the interim. Most people assumed he was overcome with grief at the loss of his baby, and he did nothing to sway that opinion.   
  
It also helped that Enterprise hadn't run across any inhabited worlds to plunder, so Archer hadn't been able to keep his promise to kidnap a baby for Trip to play with. Something for which the engineer was eternally grateful.   
  
The banquet began and Trip had to force himself to ignore the sight of Archer ripping apart another pig. The engineer concentrated on his own "scrumptious" repast of swill, and somehow managed to get through the meal. After dinner Trip sat back and relaxed. He knew that this time he was really gonna enjoy the entertainment.  
  
That night the games started off simply enough. Two crew members wrestled for the right to settle a dispute, then another fought Malcolm and lost as punishment for some sort of infraction, real or imagined. Still, by the time the dancers came in Trip was beginning to get a little worried. It wouldn't be long before Archer chose his companion for the evening. Then the entertainment would be over, and so would their chances.  
  
It seemed to Trip that the performers had just started to dance, but before he knew it they finished up their routine and Archer had come down to make his first inspection. Hoshi stayed well in the back of the group, trying to keep out of the captain's gaze. Smart girl. Archer was so engrossed with checking out the women that he didn't notice when four figures, dressed in hooded robes slipped into the room. He didn't notice, but Trip did. The engineer smiled when he got a good look at one of the faces peering out from behind the hood. That was the confirmation that he needed and Trip got to his feet.   
  
"Wait!"  
  
Archer sighed at the distraction and turned to face the engineer. "What is it with you, Little Mother? Must you interfere with my every romance?"  
  
"Damn straight!" Trip said, walking around the table. "I'm gonna make sure you don't molest any of those girls anymore."  
  
"Oh?" Archer raised his eyebrows at the affront. "And exactly how are you going to do that?"  
  
Trip took a deep breath. This was the moment that he'd been waiting for ever since he set foot on this deck plating and the engineer didn't hesitate. "I'm challengin' you for the right to be cap'n of this ship!"  
  
"What?" Archer and his comrades burst out laughing. This little wimp of a man had the gaul to think that he could actually fight the great Jonathan Archer for leadership of Enterprise and win? Ridiculous!  
  
Archer's buddies may have thought that Trip's challenge was only a small diversion to the regular floor show, but the dancers recognized trouble brewing when they saw it and ran for cover, leaving the two alone in the ring.  
  
"You heard me." Trip made his words very clear so Archer would have no choice but to understand. "I'm invokin' the Cap'n's Challenge, as is my right as a member of this crew! You can't refuse."  
  
"Oh, I have no intention of refusing." Egged on by his crowd, Archer began to swagger around the ring. The captain was sure that he could wipe the deck with this mousy engineer by using only one hand. "You do know this is a fight to the death, don't you?"  
  
Trip nodded. "Who's death remains to be seen."  
  
Archer laughed again. "My, my. You're grief must have snapped your mind, Little Mother. I told you I was going to get another baby for you to play with. You should have been content with that."  
  
Trip ground his teeth, but was glad that he didn't have to restrain his anger anymore. "Only one thin' will make me content, Jonathan Archer and that's seein' your ass kicked all across this floor." Trip put up his dukes. "So, let's do it!"  
  
The sight of his previously meek and quiet engineer suddenly turned into a dynamo was such a shock that Archer still couldn't quite believe it. "You're not actually serious?"  
  
"Oh, I see. You're afraid to take me on." Trip mocked the captain, deliberately trying to get Archer mad. "You think I'll win so you're stallin'."  
  
"That's ridiculous!" Trip's strategy began to work. Archer was being embarrassed in front of his crew, and that was something that the captain couldn't allow to continue. "You're going too far, Little Mother."  
  
"Not far enough!" Trip taunted. "So, why are you just standin' there? Come on, take a swing at me. Or are you a coward?"  
  
That did it. No one, but no one, ever called the captain a coward. Furious, Archer charged forward, intending to crash into the engineer and smash him to the deck. Trip saw him coming and simply stepped out of the way, planting a right hook in the captain's mid-section as he passed.   
  
Archer gasped as the blow impacted his left side. Thrown off balance, the captain lost his footing and crashed to the ground.  
  
Oh, that felt good. Even though Trip's knuckles hurt a little after the punch, it was such a relief to be able to unleash his pent up fury, and Archer looked so pathetic laying there all stretched out on his ass. Finally. Payback.  
  
Archer's buddies didn't think the picture was so inviting. Even though they just saw it they still couldn't believe it. Tucker had knocked the captain to the ground. Archer actually couldn't believe it either. Infuriated, he climbed to his feet and charged the engineer again.  
  
This time Trip deliberately stayed put, allowing the captain to grapple him. The two men struggled for a few minutes, making it look like a real fight to the spectators, but as Trip predicted, Archer had no skill, no finesse and it was easy for Trip to parry most of the punches.  
  
Malcolm had seen enough. He could tell that Archer was losing the fight, for the first time in his life, and the security officer was determined not to let it happen. He started to get off of the dais and hop into the fray when a hooded figure stopped him.  
  
"I wouldn't do that mate." Malcolm froze at the sound of the voice, his voice, coming out from the hood before him. He looked up and saw... himself, smiling at him. Shocked to the very core, all Reed could do was stand there and stare as the apparition began to speak. "You don't really want to interfere with the fight, do you?" The ghost or whatever it was had some sort of alien looking weapon pointed at him, and gestured for Malcolm to sit back down. "I know we both want this to be a fair contest."  
  
Helpless, the security officer turned to Travis for aid, but Mayweather had troubles of his own. Another Travis had appeared from nowhere and held the helmsman immobilized. Who were these strangers, Malcolm wondered, and where the hell was his bodyguard? The armory officer looked around and saw that their guards, the people who were supposed to be protecting them from assaults like these, were apparently asleep.   
  
White fury assailed the armory officer. Ohh, Somebody was going to pay for this, dearly! But before he could get too far along in planning his revenge, the nudge of the strange weapon knocked Reed back into the present. The ghost was gesturing, wanting him to sit down. Helpless, Reed had no choice but to comply. He couldn't help his captain now. This time, Archer was on his own.  
  
Fighting by himself, against a real opponent for the first time in his life, Archer discovered that he wasn't doing so well. The captain had only managed to land a couple of punches on Tucker, while the engineer was able to get by his own defenses and inflict a considerable amount of damage. How, he didn't know. Archer had never seen this kind of fighting before. What he did know was that he was losing, and the thought that this lowly engineer could take his ship sent waves of rage flowing throughout his soul.  
  
Seeing Archer's wrath level rise higher and higher, Trip positioned himself so that, this time when the captain lunged at him, the engineer allowed himself to be propelled to the right. Then Archer pushed him over one of the tables, knocking him clear to the other side. A cheer went up from the captain's buddies and Archer felt a moment of triumph. Maybe he was going to win after all.  
  
Maybe not.  
  
Trip laid still, and it took him a few seconds to gather up his wits enough to notice that he wasn't alone. Someone was crouched down next to him. "Charlie?" His counterpart nodded and quickly took off his robe, revealing that both Tuckers were dressed in the same clothes. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" Trip whispered.  
  
"You bet. This is my fight and I've gotta finish it." Charlie gestured to Trip to stay put and then vaulted back over the table.  
  
The captain, proclaiming victory once again, was receiving the accolades from his friends and cohorts when Charlie hopped back into the ring. The engineer's reappearance may have cut into Archer's claims of conquest, but even so the captain's ego had been restored to it's pre-fight high level. Archer had conveniently forgotten about his difficulties earlier, and he was confident that he would make quick work out of the engineer. "So, you're back for more, Little Mother?"  
  
"I'm back to finish this, once and for all." Charlie vowed, then the engineer leaped on Archer with a ferocity the captain had never seen before. With years of pent up anger as motivation, combined with the fighting techniques that Malcolm had taught him on the other side, Archer was no match for Charlie. Not anymore.  
  
"This is for Danny." Charlie hit the captain. "An' Hoshi." Another punch. "An' the Denobulan's." Again another hit. Tucker continued to list every person that Archer had ever wronged, battering the man again and again. Finally, when the captain was just tottering on his feet, Charlie threw a right hook with everything he had. "An' this for my baby!" The hit connected, hard, and that was it. Archer went down and stayed down.  
  
A gasp echoed throughout the hall and all movement ceased. No one could believe it. The great Jonathan Archer was down. The captain had actually been beaten. The stunned silence hung in the air for what seemed like hours. Then, as if a damn burst, the members of regular crew who had been oppressed for so long began to chant. "Kill him! Kill him!" The request billowed throughout the room as the pent up emotions of good people abused beyond endurance came to a head.  
  
Charlie planted a foot on the ex-captain's neck. The moment he had dreamed of for so long had come and his enemy had been defeated by his own hand. It was time for retribution, still he hesitated. Why? He so wanted to crush this evil Archer, the way he had crushed so many others, yet when Charlie glanced at his friends gathered together at the side of the ring, Tucker knew that they wouldn't approve of his retaliation.   
  
Over the last month Charlie had come to look at the captain and the others as an example of the right way to behave, and even though they had engineered this mutiny, the distaste of violence was clearly etched on their faces. Then he looked down at his former captain and saw something that he never expected to see. Fear. Archer was actually afraid of him.  
  
After a long, slow moment Charlie removed his foot from Archer's neck, then gestured to Reed and Travis to come forward and take hold of the coughing despot.   
  
The taunts turned to yells of displeasure as the crowd realized that Charlie was going to let Archer go. "No! I'm not gonna kill him!" Tucker bellowed louder than the chants, drowning them out. "If I kill Archer now then I'm just as bad as he is!" Everyone could hear the ring of command clearly in Charlie's voice and it began to quiet the crowd. "I'm tired of all of the terror an' all of the killin'. I've learned that there is another way to live. A better way."   
  
The murmurs died down a little, but not completely. Charlie raised his voice again. "We're not gonna live in fear for our lives everyday, and we're not gonna hurt other people either. From this moment on, Enterprise is no longer part of the Terran Empire. We're gonna make our own way an' build a life on this ship where we can have friends, families an' raise our children in a happy, healthy environment." He looked around and made eye contact with every member of his new crew that was in the room. "We're gonna live in peace!"  
  
The muttering died down and the crew looked around uncertainly. They wanted to believe, but were afraid to. Then, after a few long seconds, Charlie saw hope appear, for the first time, on more than a few faces.   
  
The new captain smiled. He knew they still had a long way to go, but it was a start.  
  
  
  
  
To be continued...... 


	10. Epilogue

"The Fairest One of All" EPILOGUE  
  
  
  
The transporter pad was a hum of activity as goods and supplies, including Annabelle's baby shower presents, and a protein re-sequencer were transferred from Archer's Enterprise to Charlie's. Archer wanted to make sure that Tucker and his people got off to a good start on their new life. No more gruel to eat.  
  
The first step was removing the former captain and his cohorts from the ship. They had found a barely habitable world nearby and decided that it was safe to strand Archer and his men on the surface, since there were no sentient beings to exploit. The plant life wasn't exactly flourishing, but with hard work Archer and his group should survive.  
  
Not that the ex-captain appreciated the chance that Charlie was giving him to go on living. "You'll pay for this." Archer tried to sound like his old, menacing self, but this time Tucker knew it was an act. An act he wasn't gonna fall for anymore.   
  
"No, Archer." The new captain replied, hardening his voice to make it sound even more menacing. "You're gonna pay for all the pain you've caused, right now." Charlie nodded, and a detachment of his new security team started hauling the prisoner away.  
  
"Oh an' Archer..." Tucker called, forcing a halt for a moment. "Next time your diggin' in the dirt for grub worms to eat, think of me. I'll be dinin' at your table." The ex-captain growled, giving Charlie a last chance to enjoy Archer's discomfort before his team dragged the despot out of sight.  
  
"Good riddance to bad garbage." Tucker muttered. "I'm glad that no one of his like is ever gonna set foot on my ship again." Then Tucker became aware of the other Archer standing next to him. "Present company excepted, Cap'n."  
  
"Of course." Unnerved at what he just saw, Archer pulled his head back deeper in his hood. Even though Charlie's crew knew that he wasn't the man who had terrorized them for years, still Archer kept his face hidden. He didn't want to frighten anyone needlessly. Hell, he was frightened too. Just watching his counterpart rant and rave was down right...scary. Archer vowed right then and there to keep an eye on himself. To make sure that he would never follow down his alternate's path.  
  
As a crewman from his ship passed with more supplies, the captain realized that he'd made a good start. While stocking up on accoutrements couldn't totally undo the havoc that his evil twin had caused, that wasn't all Archer had in mind. "Phlox is going to give everyone on board a checkup. We want to make sure that you're all healthy before we go."  
  
"Thanks Cap'n." Charlie wondered if he could ever really pay these people back for what they had done for him and his crew. "None of us would be alive without you."  
  
Archer thought about his counterpart and shuddered. "It was the least I could do."  
  
"Hey, what about me?" His voice demanded attention, but all Trip Tucker got when he joined the group was smiles from the captain and his counterpart. Grins from his good buddies wasn't exactly the recognition that the engineer was looking for. "I'm the one who hadta live in this 'paradise' for a whole month, remember. Don't I get a little credit?"  
  
Both Tuckers knew that Trip's contribution to the improved status of the crew on this Enterprise was considerable. Trip just wanted his ego brushed up a little and Charlie was glad to oblige. "You get a whole lotta credit and you know it."   
  
While the two Tuckers talked, Archer took the opportunity to make some comparisons. At first glance they looked identical, but upon reflection he discovered that there were subtle differences. While Charlie was slightly smaller and not as well defined as Trip, he now glowed with an inner self confidence that Archer knew wasn't there four weeks before. The captain was pleased. Apparently his crew had made a good impression.  
  
"Thank you, Trip." Charlie said. "I know how hard it is to live here an' I really appreciate the sacrifice you made on our behalf. Seventy four people on this ship owe you their lives."  
  
"Aw shucks." While Trip knew he'd been hunting up complements, he didn't quite expect such gushing admiration to come outa Charlie. "I take it that head count includes your baby?"  
  
"You betcha."  
  
"Where is she?" Trip asked. "I'd like to take a peek at her."  
  
"Actually, I'm not sure right now. Dr. Phlox was lookin' after her for me."  
  
Speaking of the doctor. "Oh, Commander." Phlox's voice floated from around the corner. "I have something for you." The doctor came into view carrying a squirming baby in his arms. When he saw the two Tuckers standing side by side and he stopped short. "At least I have something for one of you."  
  
Smiling, Charlie held up his left arm, exposing the nipples for all to see, and moved forward to take the baby from the doctor. "Thanks for takin' care of her, Doc."  
  
Phlox smiled. "My pleasure."  
  
"Wow." Trip stared at the baby, fascinated. He didn't expect her to be so cute. Despite the scales and the lack of hair, Trip reckoned that she was the prettiest girl that he'd ever laid eyes on. "Look at that."  
  
"You wanna hold her?"  
  
"Sure." When Trip took the baby into his arms he looked down into the child's rust colored eyes and was surprised. He didn't expect that holding the little girl would feel so right. "She's so tiny."  
  
"Yeah, but she's grown since I saw her two days ago." Charlie was proud to point that out. A parent notices these things.  
  
Despite the child's small size, she was a handful. Wiggling and squirming, Tucker had trouble keeping a grip on the energetic bundle. "Woah there, Little Missy." Trip admonished. "Whatcha wanna do? Grow up to be a wrestler or somethin'?" The baby giggled at the tall man looking down at her and Trip blossomed under her gaze. "I hope you named her somethin' appropriate to match her energy level?" Trip asked his counterpart.  
  
"Actually, I named her Annabelle."  
  
"After our momma an' the Cap'n's momma?" Charlie nodded hoping that Trip, like Archer, would approve of his choice. Trip did. "I think that's a great name."  
  
Charlie relaxed a little. He hadn't realized how much Trip's approval had meant to him until he had it. Still, it made sense. After all, Trip was family.  
  
Annabelle coughed a little, as all babies do, and a little bit of drool fell down her lips. As Trip brushed the liquid away he felt a sudden pang of longing. "I suppose the youngin in my universe would look just like her, huh?"  
  
"Probably." Charlie knew just what Trip was thinking. When he had handed Annabelle over to Phlox the pain of separation had been sharp, and they had only been apart two days. Trip must be feeling terrible at this moment. After all, he had never even seen his own baby, but it wasn't too late. "You can go an' find out you know."  
  
"Huh?" His attention still focused in on the child, Trip didn't quite understand what Charlie was getting at.  
  
"Your little girl must be born by now. Why don'tcha track down the Xyrillian's when you get home an' look her up. The universe isn't that big."  
  
"Maybe I will." Trip smiled at his counterpart, then back down at the new life in his arms. How he wanted to hold her forever. "Maybe I will." Trip fought the impulse to hang on, and with great reluctance he handed Annabelle back to her father.  
  
**********  
  
The next few hours passed quickly and in short order all of the supplies were stowed, and all of Archer's crew was back on their side of the looking glass. Everyone except for Trip and Archer who were just about to beam home. Charlie, with Annabelle in his arms, was there to see them off.  
  
"Where are you headin' now?" Trip asked.  
  
"I'm not exactly sure yet." Charlie answered. "We've set a course away from the human empire, an' I'm hopin' that we can find some sorta nice uninhabited planet to settle on. Who knows." Charlie winked at Archer. "Maybe we'll get some explorin' in along the way."  
  
Archer saluted the new captain, totally confident that he was leaving these people in good hands.  
  
Charlie put the baby in her stroller, then took charge of the transporter controls. Tucker wanted to make sure that his friends got home safely. "Thanks again."  
  
Archer nodded. "Good luck to you."  
  
With that Charlie activated the device and soon after Archer and Trip materialized on their own ship. Trip quickly hopped off of the pad and chucked in a big, deep breath. "Home. Thank God."  
  
"It does smell better over here, doesn't it?"  
  
Trip grinned that wry grin of his. "That's the understatement of the century, Cap'n."  
  
"So, Trip," Archer said, clapping his friend on the back. "Now that you're home what do you want to do first?"  
  
"Eat!" Trip was certain. "You wouldn't believe the slop they served over there. I can't wait to wrap my tongue around some lip smacking, re-sequenced protein."   
  
Archer laughed. He never thought he'd see the day when Trip practically begged for re-sequenced protein. What changes life on the other side had wrought, Archer mused as he herded Tucker toward the mess hall.  
  
Unfortunately for Trip lunch turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment. Oh, the food tasted great all right, but the entree was fried chicken, and seeing Archer nibbling on a drumstick was just a tad unsettling.   
  
"What?" Archer asked, seeing the engineer stare.  
  
"Nothin'." Embarrassed at being caught, Trip looked down at his food.  
  
"Obviously it's something." Archer pushed. "What?"  
  
"Well, Cap'n. It's just that..." Images of Archer gnawing at freshly slaughtered meat, with blood dribbling down his chin, came to mind. "You didn't exactly have pristine table manners on the other side. If you know what I mean."  
  
Archer could guess. "Seeing me eat is bringing up bad memories?"  
  
"Somethin' like that." Trip admitted. "It's kinda off puttin'."  
  
"Well, your not the only one." Archer said, a bit defensive. "I saw you deliver a baby once, and that's something that I never want to see again."  
  
Trip nearly choked on his chicken before he started to laugh. "Stop it, Cap'n. You're killin' my appetite."  
  
"And here I thought you were pining for re-sequenced protein." Archer teased as the men relaxed into their usual good natured bantering.   
  
"Oh I am." Trip admitted, finishing off the last of his chicken. "This was great."  
  
"Well I hope you saved a little room." Archer told him. "Because I've got a surprise for you." The captain gestured to a steward who whipped away the chicken bones, and put a different plate in front of the engineer.   
  
"Pecan pie!" Trip's whole face lit up. Thanks, Cap'n."   
  
"My pleasure." As Archer watched Trip enjoy his special desert, finally he could relax. Every single Charlie Tucker he knew was safe, in any universe, and that fact made the captain a very happy man.  
  
  
The end. 


End file.
